A Second Chance
by rachelisafallenangel
Summary: Part 1 of the "Second Chances" series: [Sixteen years, six kids and one marriage later, Jerome Clarke and Mara Jaffray have reunited. While they build their relationship into what it once was, they face the troubles of becoming a family and all that comes with it.] Now being continued! R&R? Mostly Jara and tons of OC/OCs! Also Peddie, Amfie, Jabian, KT/Ben, Mick/Nina & Poppy/OC! :P
1. Prologue

**And this is the last sample, I believe. :) I'm gonna try to work on some other stories tonight. If you want me to try to work on something specific, just leave a comment. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_Jerome buried his face in the crook of her neck and breathed in the intoxicating vanilla aroma. _

"_Jerome, I have to go; my plane's going to be leaving soon." Mara said softly into his shoulder._

_He nodded slightly and pecked the base of her neck gently. He pulled back and let his blue eyes roam over her flawless features, blowing out a breath of amazement. She looked up at him with watering eyes. _

"_You know why I'm doing this." She spoke again, and she continued as if to refresh his memory. "I don't want us to get into a fight or something to go terribly wrong while we're on opposite sides of the world. It could ruin everything, and I don't want to lose you. So if that means letting you go, then so be it." _

_Jerome felt a smile pull at the corners of his lips as he watched her. She was taking charge; she was being the leader that he always believed her to be. "Someday?"_

_Mara smiled up at him and cupped his face in her hands. "If it's meant to happen again, it will." She whispered and pulled him down to press their lips together in a short kiss._

"_I love you." He murmured against her lips._

"_I love you, too."_

_He didn't move away from her as he broke the kiss, he simply wrapped his arms tighter around her waist and brushed his nose against hers. "Your plane is going to leave soon." He reminded half-heartedly. He was silently pleading with her to stay; to never leave his side, but she stood up from the bench outside the airport and grabbed the handle of her carry-on. _

"_Don't forget me." she warned teasingly, but a tear escaped her brown eyes._

"_I'll never stop thinking about you, Mara Jaffray." He promised, and without another word, she ran off; so it wouldn't hurt more than it already did._

* * *

_**13 years later…**_

"I'm just done." She spat, stomping down the steps of the two story house.

"Quiet; you'll wake the kids." Jerome hissed, following her quickly. She marched into the kitchen grabbed a suitcase from the laundry room that she had already packed.

"When did you pack that?" he demanded, pointing to the bag.

Kathrin Clarke ran a hand through her blonde hair and huffed. "A week after Matthew was born."

"I knew it." he muttered. "You are cheating on me."

"It won't be considered that in a couple of weeks. We're through. I'm done with these kids. You and I both know that the only reason we ever got married was because my mother didn't want our child to be born out of wedlock."

As she made her way past him, he grabbed her elbow.

"Kate, you can't leave me. You can't leave the kids."

"You'll be fine, Jerome."

"Kate—"

"My name is Kathrin, stop calling me Kate."

Jerome took a deep breath and looked away from his wife, but he didn't loosen his hold on her arm so she stood there watching him for a moment before speaking again,

"You and I both know that I am not the right woman to be taking care of these children. I may have given birth to them, but I cannot be their mother. You and I never had love; even if we wanted to at some point. I kept trying to leave, but you just wouldn't let me. You always brought the kids into it, and then my mother. I'm going to leave now before something stands in my way again."

"I can't take care of them alone. Not to mention that I have a toddler and an infant up there."

"You'll find a way to make everything better. You always do."

"What am I supposed to tell them when they come downstairs in the morning and their mother's not there making them breakfast? What am I to do then?" he questioned.

She jerked out of his grasp and hurried to the front door.

"Kate—"

"Kathrin," she snapped. "Here," she slapped an envelope into the palm of his hand. "You have full custody. They are your kids and your kids alone."

Her green eyes flitted above him and he looked up at the balcony that overlooked the foyer. His two oldest Michael and Alice stood there, watching the argument their parents were engaged in. He locked eyes with both of them. As the front door slammed shut, his eyes darted to the floor, guilt weighing on his shoulders; and the family photo that hung on the wall fell to the floor with a smash, glass littering the floor.

Silently, he hurried to clean up the mess, and then he climbed the stairs and motioned for Michael and Alice to follow him to his room. The three of them sat on his bed, legs crossed, and he tossed the custody papers onto his nightstand.

"We'll help, daddy." Alice whispered reassuringly. The blue eyes that matched her father's glittered with unshed tears after watching her mother walk out on her dad.

"I know you will, sweetheart." He gave one of her blonde pigtails a gentle tug.

"What's gonna happen now, dad?" Michael wondered.

Jerome looked down and blew out a slow, tired breath. "I don't know. I'm tired. I'll talk to you guys about this in the morning."

"Do you want us to tell the others?" Alice asked.

"No, I need to do that." He told them.

His daughter nodded and got off the bed. She tightly hugged Jerome and he placed a kiss on her forehead. He gave Michael a hug as well, and right before the siblings could leave the room, he spoke again,

"But you guys have to remember: I'll never let anything happen to you."

"We know, dad." Michael nodded.

* * *

**Review?**

**"Well, I'm tired of pretending, but I'm terrified of it ending. I know if not for you, there's nothing I could do to ever let it end. And I know you feel the same way, 'cause you told me drunk on your birthday. And as you pull to me, you whispered in my ear, 'Don't ever let it end.'" -Don't Ever Let It End, Nickelback**

**-Rachel**


	2. Chapter 1

**I had actually forgotten to write an A/N. -.-**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

_**4 years later…**_

"Peace and quiet," Jerome let out an exhausted sigh as he collapsed on the sofa after unpacking the last of the boxes that had been moved into the brand new house.

"Josh! Turn down your stupid videogames! I'm watching _The Notebook_—I can't hear it when swords and shields are clashing in the other room!"

Jerome groaned, running a hand over his face when he heard Louisa yelling at her twin.

"Lou, stop yelling, I can't hear myself read!" Alice called.

"Alice, you're yelling, too—both of you knock it off!" Michael snapped.

"Daddy, why is everyone yelling?"

Jerome turned to his youngest and let out a breathy chuckle. "I don't know, Monkey, they've been doing that since Lou and Josh were born."

He lifted Gracie onto his lap and let the four year old take his thin black tie in her small hands and curl it around her fingers. She had dirty-blonde hair that fell above her shoulders in loose curls. Her blue eyes were concentrated on the tie's shiny fabric.

"Dad, Josh won't turn down his video games." Louisa moaned, stomping into the common room. The thirteen year old flicked her straight blonde hair over her shoulder and rolled her blue eyes as her twin came in behind her.

"You've watched your stupid chick flick two times today! How many times do you need to watch _The Notebook_?" Josh asked in disgust. His blonde hair hung limply over his bright blue eyes and his pale skin was emphasized by the dark blue polo he wore.

"Can't you two just get along?" Alice sighed tiredly, hugging her mystery novel to her chest as she entered the room. Her blonde hair was damp, causing loose curls to form as it air-dried. She was now fifteen and beautiful, but she was also shy, though she did have her father's quick wit.

"Oh like you and Michael do?" the twins shot back simultaneously.

"We never said we get along. But at least we're not constantly fighting." Michael protested, suddenly appearing beside Alice. He ran a hand through his dirty-blonde hair just like his father always did. When he had turned sixteen it had become a habit for him.

"Okay," Jerome cut in, stretching the word so they'd pay attention to him. He helped Gracie off his lap and took a deep breath as he stood up. "Josh, you do need to turn your videogames down—just a few notches. Louisa, you got headphones for Christmas—use them. Kids, let's go out and see the town. We just got here and everyone's trying to get settled. Let's go do something."

"I'm up for that," Alice smiled. "I did some research; there's a bookstore I'd like to check out. It's been there for ages."

"Yeah, isn't there an antiques store somewhere around here?" Louisa asked excitedly.

"There's bound to be an arcade." Josh said thoughtfully.

"Arts and crafts," Gracie piped in.

"Yeah, I could use some air, I guess." Michael shrugged, pulling on his jacket.

"Alright," Jerome grinned and handed Gracie her jacket after he slipped into a gray blazer.

"Uh, dad," Michael said as his younger siblings filed out the door. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

His father blinked. And then realization lit up his face. "Oh! Right! Matty, come downstairs, kiddo; we're going out!"

No response.

"Matthew!"

"Coming, daddy," the seven year old hollered back as he ran out of his bedroom.

"Good kid." Jerome nodded.

* * *

Joy Rutter aimlessly leafed through books at the local bookstore. She was waiting for her husband to pick her up. Their second car was in the shop and Fabian had to pick the kids from school and then drop them off at their extra-curricular activities.

But something that she hadn't expected to happen on a perfectly normal afternoon was seeing a man that looked exactly like Jerome Clarke. He was standing at a rack of books, flipping through it. He would look up every few seconds, each time in a different direction. His hair was brushed forward, falling over his eyes, and he wore a pink dress shirt with a gray waist coat.

Joy shook her head and looked back at the man. Sure enough, he wasn't a hallucination—that must be Jerome Clarke.

"Dad!"

* * *

Jerome shifted on his feet. He could've sworn someone was staring at him. He shook off the paranoid feeling and turned to the twins when they called him at the same time.

"What is it now?"

"Josh keeps pulling my hair!" Louisa pouted.

Jerome scoffed, turning to his son. "Grow up, Bud."

"She keeps humming that stupid Katy Perry song." Josh accused.

Jerome rolled his eyes.

"Daddy!"

"Gracie, don't push." Louisa scolded as the youngest Clarke squeezed between Louisa and Josh's legs to get to her father.

She ignored them and held up a book for Jerome to see. "Daddy, I get this!"

"Well…I don't know about that. Didn't I just buy you a book the other day?" he asked her, flipping through the pages of a _Barbie_ fairytale.

"I potty-train," She stated proudly, nodding as if it was going to convince him to buy it for her.

And he caved. He held out a hand. "Alright, Monkey, let's do this."

Gracie cheered and grabbed his outstretched hand with both of her small ones. She hung on tightly as he lifted her up and over his shoulders so she could sit upon them.

"Louisa, Josh, could please work together and go get your siblings. Okay? Then we'll go get some ice cream—but only if you get along." He warned.

"Okay," they said with bright smiles and ran off to do what he said.

Once Michael, Alice and Matty came back with the twins, Jerome held the door open for his kids to exit the bookstore. They strolled down the street to the ice cream shop a few doors down.

* * *

"Fabes," Joy acknowledged, hopping into the car. Her husband smiled at her and she continued as they pulled away from the curb. "You would never believe what I saw at the bookstore."

"What?" he wondered curiously.

"I can't tell you yet; wait until we get home. The others are there, right?"

"Yeah, I told them we'd be back in a few minutes." Fabian replied.

The rest of the ride was silent as Joy thought back to what she had seen at the bookshop, while Fabian pondered what had gotten her so excited. When they had pulled up into their driveway, Joy hopped out, slung her bag over her shoulder, and marched right into the house. Fabian hurried after her, stopping behind her as she began speaking to their friends who sat in their living room.

"You guys will never believe what I saw at the bookstore—or maybe I should say _who_ I saw." She giggled slightly, running a hand through her brown hair.

"Who did you see?" Eddie Miller arched an eyebrow at her, green eyes gleaming with curiosity.

"Jerome Clarke," Joy announced.

Her friends stared at her in shock for a moment before Mara Jaffray spoke up. "Jerome?" she breathed, heart beat accelerating just at the mere mention of his name.

Oh, how she had missed him. They had lost touch after they broke up. After university, she came back to Liverpool, finding her friends but Jerome had moved. She later found out that he had gotten married and they had four kids. She had been heartbroken and decided to stay in Liverpool and try to get a job at the local hospital and get over her high school love. But it proved to be quite difficult for both tasks. She worked as a chemistry teacher for high school students. She had been engaged a few years before, but he had run off last minute.

"Yep, and he's got kids, and he only looks a bit older than he did in school, and I don't think he's married; he didn't have a ring." She explained, thinking back to the bookstore. No, he hadn't had a ring.

"Maybe he's getting it resized?" Amber Lewis suggested.

Patricia Miller's eyes flitted to Mara and she noticed that she was slightly excited, yet sad. She was probably thinking the same thing. "I think we should find him and make him hang out with us."

"I agree," Alfie Lewis nodded eagerly.

"Well…" Eddie murmured. "That big old house at the end of the street was just sold. Do you think he moved in?"

"It's got to be him." Joy stated confidently.

"Okay, let's wait until tomorrow, after dinner, and we'll go over and welcome them; whether it's Jerome and his family or not." Fabian said.

And the friends agreed instantly.

* * *

**Review?**

**"We're always running away. And we don't stop to think about it. The world's in our own hands. They don't need to understand." -They Don't Need To Understand, Andy Black**

**If any of you have not heard the solo single by Andy Black (Andy Biersack from Black Veil Brides), you are totally missing out! It's fantastic! Go check it out on HotTopic's YouTube account! :D**

**-Rachel**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey, I felt like updating again...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Jerome ran a hand over his face sleepily and dragged himself out of bed. He quickly got ready for the day; taking a quick shower, brushing his hair, slipping into a comfortable pair of gray trousers and a white dress shirt. He draped his midnight blue tie around his neck, but didn't make any move to tie it as he left the room, knocking on each of the children's bedroom doors, telling them to wake up for school.

He jogged down the steps and entered the kitchen. He had set cereal out on the dining room table the night before with the bowls and spoons ready; he just placed the milk in the middle. He heard his kids shuffling around above him as he finished their lunches.

It was a normal day in the Clarke household. It was definitely different in a bigger house in another part of the world, but they were going to get used to it, and mornings were going to run even smoother than this one.

"Lou, hurry up; you're taking forever! How long does it take to use the bathroom?" Josh hollered.

* * *

Mara looked up when the kids filed through the door of her classroom. She noticed a new face, and her heart nearly stopped beating, but then she realized it wasn't him; but he sure was practically a clone of Jerome Clarke. She swallowed, looking down at the list of students on her desk. _Michael Clarke_. And a second later, her brown eyes landed on a second name; _Alice Clarke_.

Oh, how was she supposed to make it through this class?

* * *

"Dad, did you know that Alice is in three of my classes? What's she doing in my grade?" Michael exploded, bursting through the front door.

"Well, hello to you too." His father replied. He had just gotten home, shrugging out of his gray waistcoat.

"Dad—"

"Do you have all your siblings?" Jerome asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yes," Michael sighed, and as proof, the rest of the Clarke children filed through the door. The boys greeted their father with happy smiles; Alice and Louisa pecked him on the cheek before retreating to their rooms to do their homework before dinner; and Gracie skipped up in front of him, holding up a piece of blue paper with noodles and glitter glued to it.

"Wow, that's awesome, darling!" he exclaimed, taking it from her. "That belongs in a museum."

"Dad," Michael cut in.

"Go do your homework; we'll talk about this later. Gracie and I have to make dinner." He said as he led her into the kitchen. "This has been awarded a spot on the refrigerator." He announced and pinned his daughter's artwork up with a star magnet.

Gracie cheered happily.

He silently tied Gracie's apron around her waist as she bounced with happiness. She was his dinner helper for the day. She always loved cooking.

"What are we making, daddy?" she asked excitedly, looking over the ingredients on the counter.

"Well, since it's pizza night; Pizza Casserole, what else is there?" he teased.

"I love Pizza Casserole." She whispered.

"I know you do." He hissed back, turning on the stove so he could boil some water for the noodles.

While he waited for the water to finish boiling, he and Gracie sorted everything out. Jerome could hear Josh's video games on the second floor, and he realized that they were a bit loud. They must be louder in the rooms on either side of it, which were Louisa and Alice's rooms. Now he understood.

He chuckled and drained the now cooked noodles, pouring them into a baking dish, warning Gracie that they were hot. They piled the rest of the ingredients onto the noodles.

Jerome looked up when he heard the doorbell ring, but he didn't make any move to answer; he couldn't leave Gracie in the kitchen by herself.

"Alright, I need one of my lovely children to answer the door for me!" he called.

"Dad, these people at the door are our neighbors and wanted to welcome us to the neighborhood, but they said they know you from high school." Michael called after a few seconds.

Jerome froze as he assorted French bread slices in a basket. "I most likely don't know them."

"Hey, Jerry!" he heard before his son could reply.

"Oh, lord," he whispered, leaning his elbows against the counter. He turned to the stove when the timer beeped, alerting him that the casserole was ready. He grabbed two potholders and moved to pick up the pan.

"Oh, Miss Jaffray, hi," Alice welcomed happily.

Jerome cried out in pain when the top of his hand hit the edge of the burning stove.

"Daddy, are you okay?" Gracie asked worriedly.

He quickly set the pan on the stove top and closed the oven, turning to the sink and running the cold water. He shoved his hand under the icy water and sighed in relief. But his mind had drifted away from the burn and dinner and Gracie watching him with a slightly frightened expression and Alice running into the room, questioning if he was okay. Jaffray… Mara Jaffray. Could it be?

"Dad, you're freaking Gracie out." Alice cried, shutting the water off.

"Oh, I'm sorry, baby." He said immediately, shaking his hand and placing a gentle kiss on his youngest daughter's forehead. "I just burned myself."

"That's not like you." Michael pointed out, entering the room.

"It's not like you to let strangers in the house," Jerome retorted, referring to his old high school friends trailing behind his son. And then he turned to Alice. "And it's not like you to let him."

They apologized and Jerome's eyes fell on Mara. She was standing behind the others, smiling at him shyly. Anyone else could barely see her, but Jerome saw her. Of course he saw her; when he saw her, time stood still and everyone else vanished. He couldn't believe his Jaffray was standing there in front of him.

"Hey, Jaffray," he acknowledged quietly.

"Hi," she said waved slightly.

Michael and Alice exchanged glances before looking between their father and teacher with confusion swept across their faces. Gracie hopped off the chair at the counter and tugged on her father's trousers. Jerome looked down at her with raised eyebrows.

"What's up, Monkey,"

"Monkey," Eddie made a face.

"I'm hungry!" she cried, pointing at the casserole.

"Right, right, I know." He nodded, holding his hand out to her. She grabbed it and he lifted her onto his shoulders. He carefully moved the casserole to the kitchen table and scooted past his old friends. "I'll be with you in a minute." He told them, helping Gracie into her seat. Michael and Alice sat down as well while Jerome stepped into the foyer, cupping his hands around his mouth as he called up to the second floor. "Louisa, Josh, Matty, dinner!" he waited a minute and then heard their pounding footsteps on the hardwood floor.

"Ugh, Louisa, move!" Josh cried, nearly tripping over his twin's feet as they ran down the stairs.

"You move first, Joshua!"

Jerome stood at the doorway. He let Matty speed past his legs but he gripped Louisa and Josh's shoulders, pulling them to a halt. He bent over to their height, his chin hovering between their shoulders. "Okay, both of you need to cut it out."

"But Lou started it." Josh defended himself.

"Don't call me Lou! I'm not a parrot!" his sister glared.

"LouLou want a cracker?" he teased.

"If you two keep going at it, you'll be going to bed early with no dinner, understood?"

"Yes, sir." They sighed simultaneously.

"Now, sit down, eat your dinner, and I'm gonna go talk to these people. No fighting. The person that starts the first fight does the dishes." He warned.

"Someone, please start a fight; it's my night!" Josh pleaded as his father left the room.

"You've got _six _kids?" Eddie exclaimed. "Have you lost your mind yet?"

"I don't think so…" he murmured, scratching the back of his neck and looking around the room.

"Where's your wife, Slimeball? Shouldn't she be helping you out with all this?" Patricia chuckled.

"Kate left four years ago, when Gracie was a baby." He replied, running a hand through his hair.

"Oh," she mumbled awkwardly, pushing a strand of her brown hair out of her eyes.

"Are you okay? Do you need any help with taking care of all of them?" Fabian questioned gently.

Jerome laughed humorlessly. "I've been playing mum and dad for the past sixteen years. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing. I can handle them; don't worry."

"Sixteen?" Amber asked in confusion.

"Kate was never a mother to them." he said casually, but his friends, for the first time in their lives, they could see what he really felt. It hurt him.

"Why does it hurt you? Did you love her?" Joy spoke sympathetically, head tilting to the side.

Jerome's eyes narrowed toward her. He hated it when people did that. "No, I just wish that my kids could have had a real mother."

They nodded in understanding.

"Let me sum it all up for you guys, so I don't have to explain this later." He sighed. "Kate and I got married only because her mother's Catholic and forced us to get married because Kate got pregnant. Then Alice was born, and then the twins, and then Matty, and then Gracie – once Gracie was old enough to drink from a bottle, she took off. We divorced and that was basically it."

"How did the kids take it?" Mara asked shyly.

"Michael and Alice were old enough to understand that we never really loved each other at all; Lou and Josh didn't take it very well, I know that Lou cried herself to sleep every night for two weeks, but they're over it now; Matty was too young to understand; and Gracie was just a few months old. She never knew her and she doesn't care. She just wants a mother that'll stick around no matter what." Jerome's eyes unconsciously met Mara's and they held each other's gaze for a moment, unashamed that they were thinking about themselves at that very second.

Screaming from the other room snapped everyone out of their silence and Jerome blew out a slow breath, brushing past his friends. In the dining room, the four oldest children were arguing while the two youngest sat quietly, watching their older siblings fight.

Jerome walked over to the head of the table and watched them scream at each other for a second before slamming his fist on the table. The plates and glasses shook and they all shut up, heads snapping around to look at him. "You're all testing my patience. I don't want to know what the fight was about. But who started it?" he demanded. Josh pointed at Louisa; Louisa pointed at Michael; Michael pointed at Alice; Alice pointed at Josh. Jerome rolled his eyes, crouching next to Gracie's chair. "Hey, Monkey,"

"Hi, daddy," she waved, Mickey Mouse fork tightly clasped in her small hand.

"Sweetheart, do you know who started the fight?" he quizzed, cocking his head curiously.

Gracie turned to her siblings and they all widened their eyes. "Gracie…" they warned quietly.

She looked at each of them and then turned to her father, pulling on his collar. He leant toward her and she whispered into his hair, "Joshy."

"Josh, you're doing the dishes for the rest of the week." Jerome stated, straightening and crossing his arms over his chest. "You need to knock it off. We'll talk about this later."

Josh looked down, shamefaced, and the kids looked back at the table, eating their dinner again.

Jerome gestured for his friends to follow him back into the foyer again. He slipped his hands into his front pockets, opening the front door. "This isn't a good time. We can talk later. I apologize for my children's rudeness."

"It's okay, Jerome," Amber assured him. "Let us know if you need anything; we all live down the street."

He nodded and watched them all file out of the house. His eyes lingered on Mara just a little longer than they should have before he sighed, locking the door behind him.

* * *

**Review?**

**It is so freaking hot. **

**"Razor... Making headlines and headstones; breaking hearts and breaking bones. Your life's a performance, so let the cameras roll." -Razor, New Years Day**

**-Rachel**


	4. Chapter 3

**So...this whole chapter is just Jerome talking to his kids. Some might find it boring, others might find it interesting because you learn a bit about each kid. In case no one remembers how old each kid is, Jerome visits each child from youngest to oldest: Gracie - 5; Matty - 7; Louisa and Josh - 13; Alice - 15; Michael - 16. And since Jerome had Michael when he was about 19, he is now, 35. **

**Just clear things up for you guys- he's not an old man just because he has six kids. Not to mention, the job (which will be explain later on...) he has keeps him in shape. ;)**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

"So what's going on?" Jerome asked, standing before his kids as they sat around the living room. "Why won't you stop fighting? What's up? You guys can talk to me about this."

They remained silent, bowing their heads.

Jerome sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Okay, all of you are going to bed early tonight." Before they had a chance to protest, he continued, "We're all tired and we need a little more rest. Everyone head upstairs and get ready for bed; I'll be up in a minute. I'll be talking to all of you before you go to bed. And I'll start with you."

"Okay, daddy," Gracie smiled, hopping down from the couch and following her siblings out of the room.

Jerome's eyes closed, his eyelids feeling heavy. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt. He climbed the stairs and arrived at the top just in time to see Gracie scrambled into her bedroom in her pajamas.

"Are you ready, sweetie?" he asked, poking his head into the room.

Gracie nodded her head vigorously from her beside her bed. Jerome entered the room, closing the door behind him and lifted her onto her bed, holding the comforter back so she could slip under it.

"Daddy, I don't like the color of my room." she stated, leaning her head back on her pillow.

Jerome looked around at the plain white walls and turned then back down at her. "What color would you like it, baby?"

"Yellow, with a giant rainbow on that wall!" she explained, pointing to the wall across from her bed.

Jerome sat back and tried to imagine what she could see. "Alright, I think that's doable."

Gracie grinned and clapped her hands.

"Sweetheart, do you have any idea why your siblings have been fighting a lot lately?" he asked, leaning on his elbow to hold himself up as he laid next to her.

"Louie and Joshy miss mummy." She told him, fingers absentmindedly tugging on the small beads that were stitched into the fabric of her covers.

Jerome remained silent as she continued.

"I don't miss mummy, I just want a new mummy. Daddy, can you give me a new mummy for my birthday?" she asked, raising her hand and running her fingers through his hair. She blinked and brushed his fringe over his forehead. She snuggled under her blanket. "I like your hair like that daddy."

He smiled slightly and kissed her nose. "Good night, Monkey. I love you."

"I love you, too, daddy." She yawned as he left the room.

Jerome shut the door behind him softly and continued down the hallway, passing Michael's room and stopping front of Matty's door. He opened it swiftly, finding his son sitting on the floor, reading a Spiderman comic book. He looked up at his father and put the comic on the table next to his bed as he climbed up and under the covers.

"Are you alright, kid?" Jerome asked as he sat on the edge of the twin bed.

Matty nodded silently.

"What's been going on? I haven't seen you much lately. You're not a teenager yet and you're already hibernating."

Matty shrugged and explained, his stutter proving to be one of the things he had inherited from his mother's side and not from a member of the Clarke family. "I've b-been p-pr-racticing my r-reading."

"If you ever need any help, let me know."

"Michael's b-been helping me." he replied, slowly.

Jerome blinked and slowly made himself nod, a little hurt. "Alright, well, um…do you know what's going on with the others?"

Matty sighed softly. "Michael and Alice are talking ab-bout setting you up with their friends' mums."

Jerome stared at him. "Why?"

"B-because they want a mummy, I guess."

"Do you want a mum?"

Matty didn't hesitate to nod, but he avoided his father's eyes. "I see kids at school get p-picked up by their mummies and I get picked up b-by my b-big br-rother because I d-don't have a mummy."

Jerome leaned forward as his son laid back on his pillow. He kissed his forehead, brushing his light, curly, brown hair away from his face. "Get some sleep, kiddo."

"G-good night, daddy," He called as Jerome slipped out of the room.

He took a deep breath and prepared himself for Josh after shutting Matty's door behind him. He knocked on Josh's door twice and after receiving a _come in_, he entered. Josh switched off his TV and tossed the PS3 controller onto his blue beanbag chair.

"Dad, don't you think I'm getting a little too old for getting tucked in?" he smirked, falling back on his bed.

"Can you tell me why you and Lou haven't been getting along lately?" Jerome demanded.

Josh didn't answer. He looked away from him, eyes flitting to the red numbers on his alarm clock.

"Gracie said that you're missing your mother. And I think she could be right; you and Louisa used to be best friends and suddenly if you're in the same room, someone's going to lose an arm? What's going on?"

"Gracie doesn't know what she's talking about, dad. Lou and I just grew out of that twins-are-the-best-of-friends phase." He shrugged indifferently.

Jerome arched an eyebrow disbelievingly. "Do you know what's been going on with the others? Not Gracie, she'd tell me anything. But is there anything about your siblings I should know? You four older ones are a lot like me; you can't tell anyone what you're really feeling, until the right person comes along."

Josh looked away.

"I know you'll open up eventually. And it might not even be to me." Jerome stuffed his hands into the front pockets of his trousers and looked at the video game posters on the walls.

"Alice doesn't have any friends." he spoke quietly. "She's basically a total outcast at school."

Jerome's head snapped back so he could look at Josh, but he didn't meet his gaze. Jerome nodded and stepped back toward the door.

"I'll see you tomorrow, bud."

"Alright," he nodded and ran his fingers through his hair, leaning back on the bed as Jerome switched off the light.

Jerome walked next door to Josh's room, knocking on Louisa's door gently.

"Come in," she called back softly.

Jerome entered as she lifted the needle off the vinyl record, stopping _the Beatles_ from playing and crossed her room to her bed, climbing up onto the fluffy white comforter.

"How's my princess doing, huh?"

"I'm fine," she replied.

"Josh didn't tell me how he was really feeling either." Her father acknowledged.

"But I really am feeling fine." She assured him.

"Gracie told me you're missing your mum."

"Well, yeah, I mean, this week, there's going to be this mother-daughter brunch thing so you can get to know everyone at drama and I'm the only girl in my grade that can't go." She said sadly.

"I'm sorry, love."

"Have you ever thought about remarrying? Can't you start dating? Miss Amy, my dance instructor, is single—"

Jerome chuckled. "I don't think Miss Amy has time for dating, just like me."

"But, dad,"

"I promise that when I find a woman that I like, I'll ask her out." he assured her. "Time for sleep," he whispered and kissed her head.

He left the room and walked past Josh's room to Alice's door. He knocked and she opened it seconds later.

"Hey, daddy," she smiled. "Can you braid my hair?"

"Can you answer me a question?"

"Sure," she nodded and hopped onto her bed. She tugged a hair tie off her wrist and held it over her shoulder as her father sat behind her.

He pulled her hair back and ran a brush through the long strands. "Josh said that you were having trouble making friends at school. Is that true?"

Alice's small shoulders tensed slightly. "No."

"Is that the truth, darling?" he asked quietly, looping one strand after another of her tangle free hair to create the simple braid.

"Yes. I haven't been socializing with anyone on purpose."

"Why?" he finished tying her hair and she turned to him.

"No one would want to be Michael's friend if they found out his sister was the biggest nerd in school." she replied. "I corrected a teacher and everyone shunned me as a know-it-all. I don't want Michael to be shunned as well. He's already become a popular. I don't want to ruin it for him. It was hard for him to make friends last time we moved."

Jerome smiled and brushed a finger down his daughter's cheek. "You're amazing."

Alice blushed and changed the subject quickly, "Dad, just a heads up, Michael and I will be finding your perfect match. We guarantee it." she winked.

"Well, hopefully, you won't have to look too far or work too hard." He sighed. "Can you talk to your brother about the whole reputation thing? Work it out so you don't have to go through high school without friends."

"Yes, sir," she mumbled.

"Love you, daughter."

"Love you, too, father."

Once he was in front of Michael's door, between Matty and Gracie's rooms, and across from Josh's room, he took a deep breath and walked in. Michael was spread out on his bed, staring at the ceiling, talking on his cellphone.

"Are you kidding me?" he laughed. "Beth is obviously hotter than Lisa."

Jerome cleared his throat as he sat in Michael's desk chair and rolled up to the bed.

"I gotta go; my dad's giving me the look." He stopped talking as the person on the other line responded. He chuckled. "Yeah, exactly – that's totally his face right now. Alright, later, man." He tossed his phone onto the end of the bed and sat up. "Hey, dad,"

"Your sister's amazing isn't she?"

"Which one," Michael chuckled.

"Your first one,"

"Yeah, she's alright, I guess. Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? About how I should protect my sisters and do anything for them and respect them and believe in them and love them to no end—"

"I shouldn't have to tell you that; you should already know."

"I do."

"Good. So how's school?"

Michael blinked. He'll never understand why his father was such an interrogator. "It's fine. I was a little surprised when I found out that our science teacher was a friend of yours." But his father wasn't the only Clarke that could change the subject so easily.

"Yeah, I was surprised when I found out she isn't married." Jerome mumbled.

"Why?"

"Met any girls yet?"

Michael mentally rolled his eyes. "Of course," he scoffed.

"Are any of them…?"

"The girl you described would be perfect for me because of _your _past girlfriend? No. I haven't found her yet, and I doubt I ever will."

"No, you'll find her, and I'll get to say, I told you so."

"You live to tell us that don't you," Michael said flatly.

"Oh, yes," Jerome smirked. "Alice told me that you two have been planning to set me up with someone."

"We're working on it."

"Don't do it, please."

"Dad, we want—"

"I've got someone in mind; I'm gonna go for it. Maybe."

"I can't believe I'm about to start a conversation about girls with my own father, but who is it?"

"None of your business, son," he chided.

"Oh, come on, dad, please?"

"I'll tell you who she is when she says yes to a date."

Michael ran a hand through his hair. "Is that it?"

"Matty said that you've been helping him out with his reading."

"Yeah, he's doing really well with it." he nodded and then continued, arching an eyebrow, "Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah, well, he just said it like he didn't need me anymore, but he does."

Michael laughed. "No, he asked me to help so that you had more time to yourself."

"Oh, that little pipsqueak is just being unselfish. And I'm being selfish because I don't want to let go of my children. Stop growing," he begged playfully, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Sorry, dad, no can do," His son replied, removing his hands.

"Louisa has been missing your mother. Do you miss her?"

"No, I just want a mum."

Jerome nodded. "Good night, Mike."

"'Night, dad,"

* * *

**Review?**

**"You can take your love away, but don't you ever leave me alone. Burn the ghosts we've carried home. Come on, touch me, show me you're imperfect too. These broken lights, they shine on us tonight." -August 18th 3:30 a.m., Automatic Loveletter**

**-Rachel**


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Jerome closed and locked the front door, turning and unlocking his car from the button on the key, and jumped.

"Morning, Jerry," Eddie smirked.

"Eddie, why?" Jerome groaned, dragging his fingers through his hair. "Are you going to do this every day I'm living here? I could leave again, you know."

"Where are you going? He asked.

"Work. Shouldn't you be there as well?"

"Day off. I thought we could catch up." he shrugged.

"I can't I have a work. I don't know how many children you have, if any, but six of all different ages are hard to pay for."

"We've got two," Eddie answered. "Teenagers, they are hard to handle."

Jerome climbed into his car, dropping his bag into the passenger seat. "Please, just leave me alone. I'm already tired. I don't want to go to work today, but I kinda run the place. I need to be there more than once a week."

"What do you do?"

Jerome sighed, starting the car. "I'm a chiropractor."

Eddie covered his mouth, stifling a loud laugh. "You're a chiropractor; that doctor that's not a doctor that massages people for three thousand dollars an hour?"

"No, I'm a chiropractor; a doctor that specializes in a variety of non-surgical treatments, such as spine manipulation and mobilization, to help patients have a healthier, happier lifestyle. And yes, it does pay well."

"I didn't need a lesson on the subject." Eddie rolled his green eyes.

"I need to go, Edison."

"How much does it cost? My back's been bothering me lately."

"It depends on how messed up your spine is. First, you're evaluated; you'd get x-rayed, asked a few questions, talk to me or another doctor, and then you'd get adjusted every few days over a period of time."

"Could I get a discount?"

Jerome stared at him blankly through the car's open window.

"Where is this place?"

"It's in town. There's a big sign that says _chiropractor,_ you can't miss it."

"Thanks, I'll probably be down there later."

"Whatever you say, Miller." He mumbled, rolling up the window and backing out of the driveway.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mara, it's Eddie."

Mara put her grading marker down and leaned back in her chair, holding her cell phone to her ear. "Hey, Eddie, what's up?"

"Are you busy?"

"Not at the moment. Why?"

"Well, I was going to ask you if you think that I should go to the chiropractor for my back issues."

Mara scratched her eyebrow. "Absolutely, but what gave you that idea? Why don't you just ask your own doctor?"

"Well, first, it's free to ask you." He said on the other line with a chuckle and Mara rolled her brown eyes. "And second, Jerry's a chiropractor."

"Jerome's a chiropractor?" she asked, shocked.

"Yeah, funny right? I would've thought he'd be a…um, a…something. I don't know. But anyway, I'm going to head down there today if you think it's a good idea."

"Yeah, I would definitely recommend it. Chiropractic treatment is better than taking pain killers, Eddie."

"Yeah, I get the message, Mara." He sighed into the phone.

"I've got to go, class is about to start." She said, finishing her grading.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later, thanks."

"No problem," she smiled and hung up as students shuffled into the room.

* * *

"Uh, hey, who do I talk to about getting 'evaluated'?" Eddie asked, bringing his hands up to sign air quotes.

The woman behind the desk smiled. "That would be Dr. Ben. I'm Talia, would you like an appointment?"

"Yep, that'd be great," he nodded, stuffing his hands into his pocket.

"Alright, name?" she asked, fingers ready on the computer keyboard.

"Eddie Miller," he replied.

"Great, just fill this out and Dr. Ben will be right with you."

"Thanks," he took the clip board from her and plucked a pen from a cup. He sat down and filled out the papers. He put the clipboard on the desk as Talia talked on the phone and she smiled at him, taking the clipboard and proceeding to copy several things onto the computer.

"Eddie?"

He looked up at the man and stood when he motioned to him. He held out his hand and he shook it.

"I'm Ben, I'll be evaluating you. This way," he jerked his head to the side.

He led the American into the next room and Eddie looked around. On one wall, several cubicles with black tables were lined up. A couple of them were occupied with people of all ages. In the middle of the room, rows of black chairs sat, a couple people wobbling on each. Two massage chairs sat in front of a TV that shuffled through quotes about health, diet facts and questions about the body. Eddie arched an eyebrow at the three ropes that were lined up on one wall. One man had his head between two tubes of cushion as he squatted, his chin being pulled up by one of the tubes.

"It stretches the neck, so it loosens the spine before you're adjusted." Ben explained.

On the far side of the room, Eddie spotted Jerome, staring at a computer. He looked up when a young girl came into the cubical beside him.

"Hey, Chels, how's it going?" he took a sip from a bottle of water and walked over to the table.

Eddie didn't have a chance to watch him doing anything. He followed Ben into a hallway, and then to the end, to a room.

* * *

"Michael," Mara called as he was walking by her desk. He stopped and looked back at her. "Do you understand everything okay?"

He shrugged indifferently. "Yeah,"

"You got a D minus on that test." She pointed out.

"I know," he swallowed. His dad was not going to be happy.

"Would you like some help? You can ask questions after class? I can get you a tutor?" she suggested.

"Tutor?" he made a face. "I don't want a nerd to breath down my neck while I read."

Mara chuckled, shaking her head. "You sound just like your father. Just because someone's good at science doesn't mean they're a nerd, Michael."

He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Your sister could tutor you." She said, ignoring his questioning glance.

"No, please, no—anyone else." He pleaded.

"Alright, what about Emily Finely," she asked.

Michael's mind blanked. "Four-Eyes,"

Mara tilted her head, giving him a look. "Michael,"

"No, not her either." he mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Don't you have like, a smart…hot girl that could tutor me?"

"You better hurry to get to class before the bell rings," she said and he stared at her.

"Please, don't give me a nerd."

"Michael, I'll talk to your father and see what he thinks."

He ran his fingers through his fair again. "But he's going to agree to Four-Eyes!"

"I know he will." Mara nodded and turned to her work, a sign to him to leave.

* * *

"What do you do?" Jerome asked as Eddie sat in his office. He suddenly felt like he was in the principal's office, getting scolded for causing trouble in class.

"I'm a general contractor, you know, for construction sites—"

"I know what a contractor is, Edison." Jerome cut him off. He clipped two x-rays up on a box on the wall and flipped a switch. The box lit up and Eddie could see his x-rays more clearly. Jerome picked up a marker and looked down at a folder. "You are jacked up. Have you lifted anything heavy lately?"

"I recently moved a bunch of furniture out of Amber and Alfie's house, and some new furniture into the house." Eddie shrugged.

"Well, you threw out your back, dude."

"Am I paying you just to tell me that?" Eddie scoffed.

Jerome chuckled. "You don't pay for the evaluation, mate." He pushed off his desk and pointed at the x-ray. "The problem starts right here…"

* * *

"Hey, where have you been all day?" Patricia asked, looking up from her magazine.

"I was at the chiropractor." He replied, sitting down next to her and throwing an arm over the back of the couch. "Jerry. He's fixing my back."

"The Slimeball's a chiropractor?" she chuckled. "Did he help?"

"Yeah, actually, this is the best I've felt for two weeks."

Patricia raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Wow, maybe I should go."

"Mhmm," he nodded, gripping the side of her neck and pulling her head closer. She tilted her head and he kissed her jawbone. "Where are the kids?"

"Kitchen," she replied with a small smirk as he grumbled, pulling away.

"Hey, dad," Justin greeted, dropping into a chair across from his parents.

"Hey, how was school?" he asked.

The fifteen year old shrugged, running a hand through his brown hair. "School,"

"Hiya, dad," his thirteen year old daughter greeted, taking a big bite of her sandwich, "How's it going?"

"Dude," Justin made a face at her.

"What," Danielle demanded, giving him a look that copied her mother's annoyed glare; one of the things she had inherited.

"Danni, that's why you can't get a date, you know." He pointed out with a smirk.

She arched a skeptical eyebrow. "What's your excuse?"

He frowned at her and she laughed, standing up, and finishing off her sandwich. "I'm going to the mall, later, fam."

"Don't do drugs," Eddie called after her, switching on the TV as he lied out on the sofa, resting his head on Patricia's thigh as a pillow.

She smacked his face with her magazine, but didn't make him get up.

"I'm going to take a walk," Justin spoke up and stood.

"Make a baby cry for your mother, would you, son—ow!" he glared at his wife, rubbing his chest where she had pinched him.

Justin rolled his eyes and continued on his way out of the house.

* * *

"Jaffray," Jerome grinned into the phone as he walked to his car. "To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"

"I wanted to talk to you about Michael." She said and he heard shuffling of papers in the background. "He's not doing very well in class. He needs a tutor."

"Do you have anyone in mind?" he asked, starting the car.

"Either Alice, or another student, Emily Finley."

"Finley," he said simply.

"I knew you'd say that," she murmured. "Alright, thank you, I just wanted your permission before I asked her. I guess, I'll talk to you later—"

"Where are you going so fast?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Well, I have some things to do," she replied.

"Well, then, we'll talk later. What's your address?"

"Why?" she asked hesitantly.

"So I can pick you up and take you out for dinner." He said softly.

"J, is that really a good idea? I mean your kids…"

"Would love you," he finished. "Come on, baby. You promised."

She sighed. "I know."

"Do you not love me anymore?" he asked quietly.

"No," she exclaimed suddenly and Jerome grinned again as she cleared her throat. "I-I…of course I still love you."

"I want to talk about this with you in person," he said. "What's your address?" She relayed it to him and he nodded even though she couldn't see him. "Right, you live a couple doors down from Eddie and Patricia. I'll pick you up at seven. Dress for a restaurant that serves wine, but a walk under the stars in the park as well."

Mara was silent for a moment and then she replied, a soft smile evident in her voice, "Okay, I'll see you then."

* * *

"Daddy," Louisa cried, skipping into the dining room.

He looked up from his briefcase and chuckled. "What's up, Princess?"

"I got the lead female role in the school play! Say hello to Belle of _Beauty and the Beast_." She said proudly, placing her hands on her hips.

"Wow, and to think you only got here a week ago." he grinned. "Congratulations, love."

"Can you drive me to rehearsals on Saturdays?" she asked.

"Yep," he nodded. He looked up at her with a small frown. "Don't set me up with your drama instructor."

"Now why would I do a thing like that?" she said defensively.

"Because all of you are trying to set me up." he stated.

"But, daddy—"

"I've got a date, Lou." He said and her mouth dropped open. "I can get myself a date, thank you very much."

"Dad, that's fantastic," Michael congratulated as he walked into the room.

"You're babysitting tonight."

"That's not fantastic." He groaned. "Why can't Alice do it?"

"She's doing some extra credit at the library," he said. "And starting tomorrow, you'll be getting tutored, by Emily Finley."

"Dad, no!" he exclaimed, following his father into the kitchen. "Four-Eyes Finley is a total nerd! She's so awkward and weird. If I'm seen with her, it'll totally ruin my reputation."

"Who knows, maybe she'll surprise you and turn out to be—"

"'The One', I get it, dad. You think I'll end up falling in love with a nerd. I can't see that happening."

Jerome rolled his eyes. "I'll be leaving at six-forty-five. Don't disappear on me."

Michael huffed, leaving the room.

"Is she nice?" Louisa asked after a moment of silence.

"Of course,"

"Will she like all of us?"

"Absolutely," he smiled, chucking her under her chin.

* * *

**Review?**

**"I don't mind, I don't care, as long as you're here. Go ahead, tell me you'll leave again, you'll just come back running, holding your scarred heart in hand. It's all the same." -All The Same, Sick Puppies**

**-Rachel**


	6. Chapter 5

**Hey! I've felt like updating a lot lately, probably because your reviews make my day and I haven't been having a good few weeks. So I sorta rely on your reviews to lift my spirits. :) I've been writing a lot of candy bar scenes that mostly have to do with Michael because he's been my center of inspiration for the last few days. **

**See, through this whole story, everyone will be having these problems, not just Jara or Peddie, but also Michael, Alice, Lou and Josh, Matty and Gracie, Justin and Danni and the other couple's children, who will be introduced in the near future. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Now, J," Mara started as he gripped her elbow, leading her to his car. "You have to promise me you won't do anything crazy."

"Like what?" he scoffed, opening the passenger side door.

"Like, ask me to marry you—do not say you didn't once think about it." she warned, pointing a finger at him when he opened his mouth to protest. "I know you."

"Yes, you do," he sighed as she slid into the seat. He shut the door and hurried to his side of the car. As the car rolled out of the driveway, he took her hand in his and entwined their fingers. She looked up at him but didn't pull her hand away. He met her eyes briefly and then looked back at the road. "I want to make up for lost time."

* * *

"Joshy, did you hear?" Gracie exclaimed, running into the room as Louisa followed her, looking through the script for her play. "Louie is going to be in _Beauty and the Beast_!"

"I told you you'd make an excellent Beast! Congrats, Lou Lou," he grinned, looking up from his Gameboy momentarily.

"Oh, no, I heard Miss Ryland was going to talk to you about that part, Joshua." She retorted.

"I wouldn't want you to miss such a great opportunity." He said in fake sympathy.

"Stop being so immature, guys," Michael voiced as he entered the room. "Gracie, it's time for bed."

"But I want to wait for daddy!" she protested, sitting up on the sofa next to Josh. As Michael advanced toward her, she grabbed onto her other brother's arm.

"Gracie, stop it; you're gonna make me lose." He scolded, eyebrows furrowing as he commanded the pixelated character to jump.

"You don't like me anymore?" she asked, her playful expression morphing into one of sadness. She jumped off the couch and ran out of the room, obviously upset.

"Oh, Gracie, I didn't mean it; I'm sorry." he called, eyes still trained on the screen. "Ow, what?" he glared back at Louisa when she hit the back of his head with her rolled up script.

"You're such a jerk." She said simply and walked away.

* * *

Mara sighed as Jerome held her hand tightly in his, while they strolled down the path alongside the pond in the park. "Are you not going to bring anything up?" she asked.

Jerome brushed his thumb over the palm of her hand and pulled her to a bench. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, facing her. "I don't want to waste any time."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I never stopped loving you. I thought about you every day for the last sixteen years. Granted, I don't regret the last sixteen years and I wouldn't trade it for the world. But I don't have to trade anything if you're right here. I'll do anything to get you to be with me again, just tell me what I have to do."

Mara raised her hand and brushed his hair down so his fringe hung over his forehead. "Start wearing your hair like that and I might just let you kiss me."

Jerome grinned and cupped her neck. She leaned into his touch and willingly let him pull her face to his.

She pulled back and rested her forehead on his, wrapping her arms around his neck. "So how is this going to work?"

"How long do you want to date before I ask you to marry me?" he asked.

She looked up at him. "Really?"

"How long?"

"Let's just see how two weeks work out, and then we'll take it from there. We also need to make sure that your children like me." she reminded.

"They'll love you."

"You love me. You can't make their decisions for them, J."

"I know; I don't do that." He took her arms away from his neck and pulled her into his chest. "Alright, how about in a week, you'll come over for dinner and meet all the kids."

Mara nodded. "Sounds good,"

"Good, so tell me, what happened while I wasn't here? Eddie told me you almost got married."

"Yeah, he left me standing at the altar. I don't know what happened, except that it wasn't meant to be, obviously."

Jerome picked up a strand of her black hair and twirled it around his finger. "He doesn't know what he's missing."

"What made you become a chiropractor?" she asked.

"My grandfather and uncle were chiropractors. I needed a job that could support a family; Kate's acting and my photography was not going to cut it. So I went to school for chiropractic. It took three years before I became a chiropractor. Kate traveled a lot because of her work, so when she was gone and I was at school, Poppy would watch the kids."

"Oh, how is she?"

"Fine, she's married now. She met him in law school. They've got two kids."

"Did you have a hard time letting them get married?" Mara asked teasingly.

Jerome looked down and met her eyes when she peered up at him. "At first, I didn't want them to start dating. She had liked him for like, three years and then he finally asked her out. But I didn't get in the way because he treated her like a queen. They dated for five years before he asked her to marry him. They've been married for…three years now. He's a good guy."

"Where were all the kids born if you guys traveled?"

He let out a laugh. "They were born all over the place. Michael was born here in Liverpool; Alice was born in Sydney, Australia; Lou and Josh were born in Paris; Matty was born in Los Angeles; and Gracie was born in Mexico City."

"Mexico?" Mara laughed. "Wow, they were born all over the place."

"Yeah, Kate didn't get a lot of parts, but a couple of them were for pregnant women." He chuckled. "That's not why we kept having kids though. The sex was just really good." He raised his eyebrows at her incredulous expression and smiled, kissing her forehead. "No one compares to you, my love."

She hummed disbelievingly and then giggled, letting him pull her into him again as he pressed his lips to hers.

* * *

"Gracie?" Josh called softly, entering her bedroom. His little sister sat up in her bed. From the window, the moon eliminated the room. He sat on the edge of her bed and smiled awkwardly. "I'm sorry I was mean to you."

"That's okay. I forgive you." She said and got up on her knees, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He chuckled, hugging her back.

"Is daddy home yet?" she asked, pulling back. She reached up to his hair, playing with the blonde strands that hung above his eyes.

"No," he sighed.

"Do you want a new mummy, Joshy?"

He shrugged. "I don't really care, Gracie."

"Why?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"You need to go to sleep. You'll see dad in the morning, okay?" he said as he tucked her back in.

"Okay," she yawned. "Joshy?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you sad?"

Josh's pulse skipped a beat. "I'm not sad, Gracie. I'm fine."

She blinked up at him and touched his cheek. "I love you, Joshy."

"Love you, too, Gracie." He replied and he left the room.

"Did you apologize to Gracie?" Louisa asked from the sofa when he walked into the common room.

"Of course, I did." he rolled his blue eyes and headed for the kitchen where Michael was sitting at the island, typing away on his cell phone. "I'm going to bed." He said as he pulled an apple from the bowl on the counter.

"Alright," Michael nodded absentmindedly.

Josh arched an eyebrow and shook his head, turning and leaving the room.

"Hey, Josh," Alice smiled, brushing past him.

"'Night, Ally," he mumbled, bounding up to his room.

"Is he alright?" she asked Michael, setting her bag on the counter.

He looked up from his cell phone. "Who?"

"Josh?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah, he's fine, why?"

"Never mind," she shook her head. "Is dad back yet?"

"No."

"Alright," her blue eyes landed on the pile of dishes in the sink. "Oh, it's my day." She realized and slipped her bracelets off her wrist, hanging them on one of the handles on the cupboards.

"Matty and Gracie are already in bed." Michael informed her. "I'm going to head to bed. I can't keep my eyes open."

Alice nodded as she organized the dirty dishes on the counter. "Good night."

* * *

"Are you serious?" Jerome groaned, his hand resting on the doorjamb above Mara's head. "We haven't seen each other in sixteen years! And you want to wait until our wedding night?"

"J, I've got to go to school tomorrow. I can't stay up all night." She scolded. She gave his tie a tug and he leaned down, kissing her gently. "I'll see you tomorrow. Love you."

"Love you, too." He murmured as she slipped into her house. As he turned to head for his car, the door opened and he twisted back to her, grinning as she grabbed his tie again.

* * *

**Review?**

**Yay, Jara date! You can never get enough of those... :')**

**I'm thinking about starting a series of one-shots about different ways Jerome and Joy could break up. What do you think about that? :D It'll be a prompting series.**

**"And you, my dear, are so sincere with the way you're breathing. You're eyes are bright, my chest is tight. We both know this isn't right, this isn't right." -Intoxicated I Love You, SayWeCanFly**

**-Rachel**


	7. Chapter 6

**Yay, new chapter! :D **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Dad," Alice planted her hands on her hips as she stood at the front door. Her father sheepishly ran a hand through his hair, walking up the front porch steps. "You never came home last night."

"I was worried you eloped with your date." Michael said, leaning against the porch banister.

"Well, you know, if you were finally alone with the love of your life for the first time in sixteen years, you'd stay out all night too." He retorted, shrugging off his coat.

"Oh, you're already in love?" Michael scoffed.

"I've loved her since we were sixteen years old. It's not happening too fast, if that's what you're thinking."

"You were high school sweethearts?" Alice asked with a smile, following their father into the kitchen.

Jerome nodded. He stopped. "Thanks for cooking breakfast."

"Yeah, we already ate." Michael informed him.

As Jerome proceeded to dish himself a serving of pancakes, Alice asked, "When do we meet her?"

"Next week. She'll be coming over for dinner. You two have already met her. Miss Jaffray?"

Michael's eyes widened. "You're dating Miss Jaffray? Dad! If my friends hear about this—"

"Who cares?"

"I do!"

Jerome shrugged a shoulder. "I can't do anything about your friends' judgmental attitudes. They can't accept your sister; they can't accept you being tutored by Emily Finley; they can't accept your father dating your teacher. What do they accept?"

Michael rolled his eyes as Alice jumped in. "I think that Miss Jaffray is perfect for you, dad."

"Thank you, darling. I've always thought the same thing." He grinned and kissed her forehead. "Let's go; you've got school."

* * *

Michael ran a frustrated hand through his hair when the bell rang. He picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He was about to leave the room when he remembered that his teacher wanted to talk to him. He turned to her desk and bit back a groan when his blue eyes landed on the short girl that was standing stiffly in front of the desk.

"Michael, this is Emily Finley. She's your tutor. I'm sure you two can work out a schedule." Mara smiled.

Emily swallowed visibly but didn't look up at him. She hugged her books tighter to her chest, her gaze directed downward at her brown penny loafers.

"Of course, Miss Jaffray," Michael sighed, turning and leaving the room, Emily following a few steps behind him. When he stopped in the doorway, she bumped into his back and he rolled his eyes, not bothering to look back.

She was grateful. Her cheeks were blushing brighter than a fire engine.

Michael looked up and down the hallway, in case any of his friends were in sight, but all the students had already made their ways to their next classes. When the classroom door shut behind them, Michael turned back to her, and she backed into the lockers in shock. "Listen, Four-Eyes, if anyone important in this school sees you with me…" he took a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair. "Look, just don't talk to me outside of our tutoring sessions. Let's meet in the library after school. In the back—the far, far back—where the history books are and it's really dark and dusty, where no one goes. If you breathe a word of this arrangement to anyone, you'll regret it. I'll see you at three-forty-five."

When he turned and stalked away, she shakily pushed her rectangular black glasses up the bridge of her nose and let out a slow breath.

* * *

"Have you talked to Jerome yet?" Amber asked, pulling her blonde hair up into a high ponytail.

Alfie kept his brown eyes trained on the TV screen as he played a racing video game with his son. "No, not yet; Eddie said that he's been busy, getting settled in and working. You know how it is."

"Leo, Uncle Jerome has a son your age." Amber informed.

"Really," the thirteen year old also didn't direct his focus from the screen.

"Boys," she planted her hands on her hips and they looked up at her instantly.

"Yes, ma'am," they said simultaneously.

"Mum?"

They jumped back to their game when Leo's older sister called from the second floor of the house. Jenna jumped down to the hardwood floor from the landing halfway up the staircase and leaned against the banister.

"Can you tell Arthur to stop kicking the wall between our rooms?"

"Arthur Joseph, why are you kicking your wall?" Amber demanded, climbing the stairs quickly and bursting into the bedroom the seven year old shared with Leo. She found him sitting in a rocking chair that was pushed up to the wall, tipping back and forth, the back smacking against the wall. "Arthur! How did you get my rocking chair in here?" she asked, picking him up. "Alfie!"

Alfie was up in the room in a few seconds. "Yeah?"

"Can you please take the chair back to our room?" she asked as Arthur scurried past her legs and ran out of the room, giggling. "On second thought, go control your son; I'll take care of the chair."

"Right," he nodded and turned, rushing down the hallway. "Arty, com here, buddy!"

* * *

Alice bit her bottom lip, turning the page of her history text book. She twisted the blue highlighter in her fingers and then went to mark something quickly as she read. When she pulled the highlighter away, popping the cap back on, the text book disappeared from her lap. Her head shot up in shock and her breath caught in her throat. Standing before her was one of the hottest guys in school, Nick Oliver. Girls loved him and would drop to his feet if he approached them. Alice wasn't even standing and her knees were weak. Why was he standing in front of _her_?

"You're Alice, right?" he smiled, dropping her book onto the concrete by her feet with a loud _smack_.

She nodded silently, unable to find her voice.

His brown eyes glinted in the sunlight and looked like gold. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

* * *

"Hey, kid, how's it going?" Jerome smiled as Matty hopped into the back seat of the minibus.

"Another k-kid made f-fun of me t-today." He mumbled with his head bowed sadly.

"Hey, Matt," his father whispered, leaning back and tapping his knee. "Don't worry about it, alright? You don't understand."

"U-underst-tand w-what?" he tilted his head to the side, looking up at him.

"See, they know you're going to be something amazing one day. They know you're going to be better than them. They're just jealous. Don't worry about it."

"B-but they said th-that I can't d-do anything r-right." he protested.

"Then prove them wrong." Jerome said simply with a shrug.

Matty fell silent, staring thoughtfully out the windshield as Jerome turned and drove the van down the street.

* * *

Jerome smiled, turning to the front door of Mara's house as she opened it. She ushered him in with a quick kiss.

"I have to grab my purse and put on my shoes; I'll be ready in a second." she promised, disappearing back into her bedroom.

Jerome followed her with a smirk. "Take your time, love, I'm in no hurry."

She turned to him as she slipped her feet into her black flats. "Ready?"

"I don't know…" he mumbled, dragging his fingers through his hair. "Maybe we could just spend the night here."

"J," she arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah, we should stay in." he grinned, wrapping his arms around her waist.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissing him back as he kissed her slowly, and then she took his hand and stepped around him. She pulled him out of the room and to the front door. "Let's go, I've missed your dates. You're so romantic."

Jerome laughed and relented, letting her lead him to his car.

* * *

**Review?**

**So...I've been told that I should start a blog. If I did start a blog, would any of you read it? And if you did read it, what should I write about?**

**"Take me, this is all that I've got. This is all that I'm not, all that I'll ever be. I got flaws, I got faults. Keep searching for your perfect heart. If doesn't matter who you are, we all have our scars. We all have our scars." -Scars, Allison Iraheta**

**-Rachel**


	8. Chapter 7

**Yay, I'm back to writing this story! I've already started on the next chapter, so that'll be up soon. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Danni pushed the double doors to the school theatre open and pulled her phone out of her back pocket, scrolling through her text messages.

"Danni!"

She looked up when her name was called and her eyes landed on fourteen year old Fiona Rutter. She sighed tiredly and smiled tightly as the brunette rushed up to her.

"Hey, how's it going?" she asked, wrapping her in a hug.

Danni stood stiffly in her arms and waited for the shorter girl to pull away.

"Are you in the play, too?"

"No," Danni replied instantly, shaking her head.

"Oh, but why? You've got such a great voice."

"It's just not my thing, FiFi." Danni shrugged, moving to continue out of the room, but Fiona grabbed her and linked their arms together.

"Come on, I want you to meet someone. She's Jerome Clarke's daughter. You know, our parents' friend from high school."

"Oh right," Danni nodded, watching the doorway as she was pulled toward the stage.

"Louisa," Fiona hollered.

"Hey, Fiona," Louisa smiled, sitting on the edge of the stage and swinging her legs over.

"Louisa, this is Danni Miller; Danni, this is Louisa Clarke. She's our Belle." Fiona informed.

"Cool, how's it going?" Danni saluted.

"Pretty good, we're having problems with the script and cast though. Apparently, someone's trying to change everything in the script, when we only have two weeks until opening night. And someone dropped out."

"So we don't have a sixth swooning girl." Fiona piped in.

"Swooning girl," Danni made a face.

"Yeah, one of the girls that swoons over Eric Stanley, who plays Gaston," Fiona explained.

"Ugh, Eric Stanley," she rolled her eyes.

Fiona gasped. "Danni, why don't you take Magenta's place?"

Danni's eyes grew wide. "Oh, I couldn't that. Really, I don't want to."

"That's perfect!" Louisa agreed, smiling down at her.

"Why did I have to cut through the theatre?" Danni whispered to herself.

* * *

Alice Clarke had never blushed so hard in her life.

Nick had insisted on walking her to homeroom, and the moment she stopped in the doorway to thank him, he had swooped down and kissed her, in front of everyone in the room, including the teacher. She swallowed when he pulled away and a shiver shook her spine when he leaned down to whisper in her ear,

"I guess that makes you my girlfriend." And then, with a wink, he continued down the hallway.

When Alice turned to the class, girls were glaring holes right through her, the teacher was fuming and Michael didn't look too happy either. She ducked her head and rushed to her desk, mumbling a quick apology to the teacher.

* * *

Josh ruffled his hair boredly as he roamed the halls of his school aimlessly. He had a free period, but he didn't have anything to do, unless he wanted to watch Louisa practice her musical, but he was far too cool for that. He could always just go take a nap, but he might oversleep and he would never hear the end of it from his father.

Finally, he decided to just collapse in a chair in front of the head teacher's office, because that's where he had found himself after ten minutes of pointless strolling. He sighed and leaned his head back on the wall behind him. He was so tired. He hadn't got a decent night sleep in so long.

He jumped when something pop rather loudly on the other side of the hallway. He opened his eyes and saw a short, dark-skinned boy glaring at a rubber balloon on the full, which lay without air. He was shaking his hand as if the balloon had snapped back on his fingers. He picked up the balloon and tossed it into the trashcan, pulling another out of his pocket. He looked up at Josh when he began to blow into it.

Josh shook his head, closing his eyes again, but Leo Lewis wasn't having that. He walked over and dumped himself on the chair next to the blonde as he continued to blow his balloon up.

He took a break and said breathlessly, "I'm Leo."

Josh sighed. "Josh."

"I'm working on a magic trick that involves setting a balloon on fire, and then it turns into a dove." Leo explained, tying the balloon, wincing as the tips of his finger began to turn red. He groaned when the balloon slipped from his fingers and it spluttered toward the ceiling, back down and smacked right into Josh's face. Leo covered his mouth, muffling his laughs.

Josh flicked the balloon off his face and stood up, moving away from Leo.

"Sorry about that," Leo chuckled, following him.

Josh bit back a groan. Couldn't this kid take a hint?

"That trick's really difficult. I know other ones though. My dad taught me everything I know. He owns a pranks and tricks shop in town called Lewis and Clarke. Maybe you could come down sometime and—"

"Clarke?" Josh asked, stopping him.

"Yeah," Leo nodded slowly. "My dad's best friend from high school's last name is Clarke. They were going to open the shop together after school, but apparently he disappeared. But my dad did it anyway."

Josh arched an eyebrow. "Cool."

"Yeah, so you could check it out. I'll take you over there after school, if you want."

With a deep breath, Josh consented, telling Leo he'd meet him at the front doors.

* * *

"Dude, what's up; you're really quiet."

Michael snapped out of his thoughts and looked over at his friend Ethan. "Oh, nothing,"

"Oh, I see, you're checking out Yvette Logan. You should ask her out, man; she's available. She's not my type, but she's hot."

"She's totally evil." Don hissed, hiding behind his sandwich.

Ethan smacked him upside the head and laughed. "But hot."

"I don't know, Ethan," Casey murmured beside Don. "She's got this weird vibe around her. Linda told me that she once ate a cat."

Don spoke up again. "I heard she tried to get paid to drink pig blood, and then told everyone she'd do it for free. And she did."

Michael rolled his eyes, tuning Don and Casey out as they exchanged gossip and rumors.

"I'm serious. You've been here for a week and you haven't gone out with a single girl." Ethan punched Michael's shoulder.

"Alright, fine, I'll talk to her." Michael chuckled, grabbing his bottle of water and strutting toward Yvette's table.

"Good luck, mate!" Don called after him.

* * *

**Review?**

**We'll meet the rest of the Rutter kids in the next chapter. Once all of the kids have been introduced, I'll post a list of all of them with their ages, just so all of you can have a reminder. :P**

**"But it's not the kind, the kind you talk about. And it's just the kind that rips the clothing off your mind." -The Kind, Flyleaf**

**-Rachel**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey! **

**So, I have the list of kids and ages at the end of this chapter, just so you all know. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"So, how was school, guys?" Jerome asked lifting Gracie into his lap as he sat with his children in the living room where they had all gathered to watch a movie.

"Josh made a friend," Louisa announced.

"Louisa made a friend," Josh grumbled.

"Alice got a boyfriend," Michael growled.

"Michael got a girlfriend," Alice shrugged.

"I painted a picture," Gracie cheered.

"I r-read from our history b-book," Matty grinned and crawled over Alice's lap to be closer to Jerome. "And I didn't stutter a lot."

Jerome smiled, ruffling his son's hair. "I'm proud of you." His eyes glanced over his older children and arched an eyebrow at Josh first. "You made a friend?"

"Leo Lewis, the son of your high school friend. The kid's so annoying." He huffed, kicking his feet up onto the coffee table.

Jerome pushed his feet off with his own with a chuckle. "Well Alfie's annoying, but he's a loyal friend. It's a good thing to have a Lewis around."

"Whatever,"

"And, little miss Alice, you have a boyfriend, do you?"

"I guess so," she blushed, hiding behind her hair.

Jerome stroked it behind her ear. "You guess?"

"He sort of just told me we were dating. I met him yesterday."

"His name's Nick Oliver and he's a total douche that plays girls." Michael said in a monotone, his hard gaze directed at the TV.

"Be careful, love,"

"You'll let me date?" she gasped in shock, turning to him quickly.

"Dad," Michael cried.

"I'm not happy about it either, but I have to let you live, don't I?" he chuckled, tickling Gracie and she squealed.

"Does this have anything to do with your girlfriend?" Josh asked slowly.

"I admit she has a bit of an influence on me. I ask her for advice. And she makes me feel a little compassionate." He winked at Alice. "You can date. I have to let you learn lessons. Louisa can begin dating when she turns fifteen as well."

"Really," she smiled happily.

"Oh, yeah, that's a great idea; release her on the male population."

"Shut up, Josh." She snapped.

"Make me, Lou."

"Guys," Jerome warned loudly. They fell silent, looking away from each other, and Jerome smiled at Louisa. "So who's this friend of yours?"

* * *

"Fiona, how's the musical going?" Fabian asked from the head of the dining room table.

"Great! We got someone to fill the part of the sixth swooning girl; Danni Miller."

"Auntie Patricia's daughter is going to be in a musical?" Jamie asked wide-eyed. The ten year old tugged at her brown ponytail anxiously.

"Yeah, she tried to decline, claiming that she didn't want to take Magenta's place, but we insisted. Louisa Clarke is really good at getting people to do things."

"Makes sense," Joy mumbled.

"Nathan, would you like the grapes?" Fabian arched an eyebrow at the eight year old as he stretched his arm across the table.

His wide brown eyes shifted to his father and he shook his head, trying to reach it on his own.

Fiona picked the bowl up and Nathan pouted as she took some of the grapes, before she put it back, within her brother's reach. He smiled and picked it up, looking at his father as if he had done it all on his own.

"Mummy,"

Joy swallowed her bite of food and turned to six year old Lynn. "Yes, Cupcake?"

"Arthur took Maria from me," she said sadly, her brown hair falling over her face.

"Aw, when did he do that?"

"At the park. He said he won't give her back to me."

"We'll get her back don't worry."

"Can we go now?"

"No, sweetie, not now—"

"Yes!" she cried.

"Lynn," she said warningly.

"Mummy!"

"Lynn, really, honey," Fabian sighed, running his fingers through his hair.

Jamie shot out of her seat when the front doorbell shrilled through the house. "I'll get it!"

"Wait, Jamie," Joy started.

Before she could continue, Jamie had left the room and rushed to the door, swinging it open. "Hi, Auntie Amber!"

"Hey, Jamie, are your parents home?"

"Lynn, put the fork down," Fabian scolded.

"I guess that's my answer," Amber laughed, stepping into the house. Jamie led her into the dining room, finding Lynn standing on her chair, Fabian gently coaxing her to put down her silverware, Joy whispering comforting words to her, Nathan hiding under the table with the bowl of grapes, and Fiona staring at her younger sister in shock.

"Lynn, did Arthur take Maria from you?" Amber asked, holding the small doll up.

"Maria!" she cried happily, dropping her fork and jumping from her chair. She hugged her doll to her chest and smiled up at Amber. "Thank you, Auntie Amber."

"You're welcome, sweetie."

"Okay, dinner's over," Fabian stated, picking up his plate.

"But I'm not finished!" Jamie protested.

"Yeah," Nathan agreed, eyes cheeks stretched with several grapes.

"Nathan Thomas, what have I told you about stuffing your mouth?" Joy demanded, pulling him out from under the table. She held her hand under his mouth. "You're going to choke. Spit them out."

Nathan slowly spit the grapes into her hand.

"Now go get ready for your bath."

Nathan ran off and his sisters followed suit, scattering around the house.

"Thanks for bringing Lynn's doll back, Ambs." Joy smiled, turning on the water in the sink as she began to do the dishes.

"Yeah, um, from who's side does she—?"

"We don't know," Fabian said simply, stacking their dirty plates beside the sink.

"Well, anyway, I wanted to ask if you're all coming to the barbeque at Eddie and Patricia's Friday. We're going to invite Jerome and his kids. A way to catch up, you know?"

Fabian glanced at the big calendar hanging on the wall as he brought more dishes to the sink. "Yeah, we'll be there."

"Great! Now, I just have to talk to Jerome… I have to go, bye, guys!" she scurried out of the kitchen and a second later, the front door shut behind her.

"Maybe Lynn gets it from your side of the family." Fabian said thoughtfully.

"And why do you say that?" Joy questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, no one from my side of the family is, let's say, feisty." He shrugged.

"I'm trying to make sense of what you said."

"I don't know, sometimes, she just reminds me of you in certain situations." He murmured, pressing a kiss to the nape of her neck as he grabbed the rag from the counter, wetting it under the warm water from the faucet.

Joy hummed sarcastically with a roll of her eyes.

"I have some work to do, I'll be in the office." He informed her.

She nodded silently, turning toward him and he pecked her lips.

* * *

"J, are you okay? You seem to be a little distant." Mara spoke as she walked out of the kitchen. Jerome ran a hand through his hair, staring forward from where he sat on the sofa in Mara's living room.

"Alice has a boyfriend," he whispered.

"Are you okay with that?" She asked.

"Well, I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. She's gorgeous and smart and kind…any guy would be an idiot not to notice that." He sighed, whipping his tie off his neck. "I remember holding her for the first time in the hospital you know."

Mara smiled sadly, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind. She kissed his cheek. "And?"

"And every single second of the last sixteen years—I remember everything." He closed his eyes as if reminiscing. "I remember holding each of the kids for the first time. I remember holding Michael and just…this feeling sweeps over you and you suddenly become so proud and you love them so much that you'd do anything to keep them safe. I remember when Alice grabbed onto to my sweater and wouldn't let go when the nurse came to take her to the nursery.

"I remember Lou and Josh when I had laid them down on the hospital bed; they grabbed onto each other's hands, almost as if they knew they'd be best friends. I remember when Matty was born and the doctor said he could have possible brain damage. I had never prayed before in my life. And I prayed all night long. He was fine. And then Gracie…she's always been fascinated by my ties."

He laughed softly.

"And on the first days of kindergarten; Michael didn't say goodbye to me and my heart broke. Alice wouldn't let go of my leg. Louisa and Josh were inseparable. I had gotten a call about Matty, pulling me out of work. Some kid had made fun of his stutter. That was the day he minimized his talking. Gracie's first day of kindergarten, I knew she was going to be an artist."

He looked down, fiddling his thumbs. "They're all growing up…and so fast, too. They're all going to leave me one day. They're not going to need me to wake them up for school or stop fights or be there when they have a broken heart or…" he drifted off. "Having children is the most amazing accomplishment, but it's the most painful experience."

* * *

"Look who decided to join the living." Patricia announced as Danni marched into the kitchen, clad in her sweatpants and her father's old college sweatshirt.

"She's been sulking," Justin said with a smirk, looking away from the game he and his father were setting up on the kitchen table momentarily.

"Are you guys still playing those boring nerd games?" Danni scoffed, pulling a soda out of the refrigerator.

"It's not a nerd game." Eddie defended himself.

Patricia flicked the side of his head and sat down beside him with work folders laid out before her. "Why have you been sulking?"

"I don't want to talk about it." she grumbled.

"She was cast in her school's _Beauty and the Beast_ musical as swooning girl number six." Justin answered, pressing his lips together to hold back a laugh.

His father didn't try very hard to keep his guffaw quiet and Danni glared at him. "Shut up, dad."

"Yeah, Cockroach, if your daughter wants to be in a play, it's her choice. Don't laugh at her." Patricia told him, leaning forward and blowing on the game board, and all the little men fell over.

Justin covered his mouth, chuckling behind his hand as Eddie stared at the board in shock. He looked up at his son and frowned. "You're grounded."

"What?"

"I don't want to be in the play, mom." Danni corrected her with a groan, sitting across from her.

"Then why are you in the play?" she asked and glared at the boys when they started arguing. "Do you two mind?"

"No, you're fine, Yacker." Eddie said dismissively.

Patricia remained silent, arching an eyebrow at her husband.

Eddie looked at her from the corner of his green eyes and sighed quietly. "Justin, let's play this later."

"Whatever, dad," he chuckled, cleaning up his pieces.

"So why were you cast if you don't even want to be in the play?" Patricia tried again.

"Fiona," Danni said.

"Oh," Eddie and Justin mumbled simultaneously in realization.

Danni sent them an annoyed look before pulling the hood of her sweatshirt over her head. "She's annoying."

"She's your best friend," Patricia laughed.

"That doesn't mean I like her. All the time."

"Well, that's a given."

Danni shook her head and pulled the drawstrings on the hood, and it tightened into a small hole she could see through but her family couldn't.

"Come on, Rock Star, it can't be that bad." Eddie smiled.

"But it is! And I can't get out of it." she moaned, pulling her knees up to her chest and tugging the ends of her sleeves over her hands.

"How can you do that? Aren't you hot?" Justin asked.

"Shut up, Justin."

He rolled his eyes, standing up so he could tuck the board game box away in the coat closet.

"Who knows, maybe you'll like it." Patricia said encouragingly.

"Mom."

"If you don't like it after a couple rehearsals, I'll try to get you out of it. Just…try something new, alright?" Eddie suggested.

Danni groaned and stood up, stalking out of the room. "You guys are no help at all."

* * *

**Review?**

**Here's the list of kids and their ages: **

**Clarke: Michael (16), Alice (15), Louisa and Josh (13), Matty (7), and Gracie (5)**

**Miller: Justin (15) and Danni (13)**

**Lewis: Jenna (15), Leo (13), and Arthur (7)**

**Rutter: Fiona (14), Jamie (10), Nathan (8), and Lynn (6)**

**In case you forgot or never read those parts. **

**"Let it go, let it go. Can't hold it back anymore. Let it go, let it go. Turn my back and slam the door. And here I stand, and here I'll stay. Let it go, let it go. The cold never bothered me anyway." -Let It Go, Demi Lovato**

**-Rachel**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey! Another update already!**

**Only today did I realize that this story has been doing really well with reviews! It's been a while since I got a bunch of reviews on a multi-chapter. So thank you everyone that's been reviewing, you keep me writing! xx**

**I don't know though...I suddenly felt like I shouldn't write because I'll never be a writer. :( But I'll try to keep myself going. I might stop writing. I don't know yet. I need to focus on getting a job and making a future for myself so I can support myself because I won't be able to do that as a writer. Unless I become a best selling author, but I'd never be one of those. **

**Enjoy?**

* * *

Michael pushed the library doors open tiredly and headed for the back of the large room that was built off the west side of the school. It was time for his second tutoring session with Four-Eyes Finley. He was not in the mood. When he made it to the dark corner of the library where the books were dusty and the window was covered with a drape, he sat down across from Emily.

She looked up and pushed a piece of paper over the table to him.

"You know, this whole thing would work better if you talked a little bit." He criticized.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered, adjusting her glasses.

"Whatever, as long as I get a passing grade." He shrugged.

* * *

"Hey, bestie," Fiona smiled, linking her arm with Danni's.

"Hey, FiFi," Danni murmured. She stopped at the corner of the street and waited for the light to signal safe for her to walk.

Fiona bit her bottom lip, lifting Danni's right hand and pulling something out of her pocket. She clipped a small charm onto Danni's charm bracelet. It was a half happy and half sad theater mask. "I'm sorry if I forced you into doing the play."

Danni sighed, shaking her arm and the charms clinked together.

She and Fiona had bought them when they were eight and started filling them up with charms every time they were happy, sad, mad or they needed to say something they weren't sure how to say to the other's face. It was a symbol of their friendship.

"It's okay, I know you just want me to do something fun."

"Yeah, and you're so talented. I just think…maybe if you come out of your shell a little bit, you'll be a little bit happier with your life. You know I want you to be happy."

"I know, you're forgiven," Danni smiled, wrapping her arm around Fiona's shoulders and pulling her in for a side hug.

As they crossed the street to the other corner, Fiona asked her if she was still going to do the play.

"Yeah, my parents said I should do it for a few rehearsals and if I still hate it, my dad will pull me out."

"Well, then I'll have to make sure you absolutely love it."

"I'll buy you two new charms if you can succeed in making me love swooning over _Eric Stanley_."

Fiona smirked at her. "Don't doubt me, Danni Miller."

* * *

"Hey, Trixie, how are you today?" Jerome smirked over the computer monitor as Patricia stood in the entryway of the cubical. "You can go ahead and lay down, if you want."

She arched an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Patricia, you can trust me." he sighed, running a hand through his hair. He walked over to the side of the adjusting table. "The way I'm going to be adjusting you, because of how much you can't stand some people touching you, is the way we would adjust a baby. It's very gentle, very few adjustments, so it doesn't take too long and you'll be able to get used to me adjusting you."

Patricia sighed and lay down on her stomach. She put her arms on the armrests next to the headrest. When she felt Jerome's nimble fingers stroke down her spine, she tightened her grip on the armrests.

"Relax, Patricia," he murmured, reaching under the table and turning a lever. He put his hands over one another on her upper back. "Breath in," she followed his instructions. "Breath out," she did so. "All the way out," he pushed down on her spine and she grunted beneath his hands. "I know it kind of surprises you the first time."

"Jeez, Slimeball," she hissed.

"Hold on a second," he chuckled, pressing his finger gently into her lower spine. He twisted another lever and the table beneath her stomach rose. He pushed down on her back, raised the table, and pushed again. "Onto your back, please." He came up to where her head was and cradled her head in his hands. "Raise your chin and relax," the moment, she relaxed, he twisted her neck and it popped.

"Oh, god, I hate that." She groaned as he helped her sit up, facing away from him.

"Well, you know that's just oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide in your joints right?" he asked. "And when you stretch the joints," he cracked his knuckles, "the gas is released, which forms bubbles, causing the sound."

"It still freaks me out."

He chuckled, picking up a tool that sat on a holder on the side of the cubical. "This is used on your neck, sometimes your back and limbs. Does this hurt?" he pressed the two ends onto her arm and pulled the trigger. It made a clicking sound as it shifted back and forth, pushing the ends of the short rods onto her arm.

She shook her head and he nodded once, lifting it to her neck. She felt the rods border her spinal cord and then it began to push.

"Tilt your head back and look at the ceiling." Jerome instructed, putting his hand on her forehead.

"I never pictured you as any type of doctor." She said.

"It was a last minute decision. What do you do?" he asked, putting the contraption back onto its stand and plucking her paper from the box on the wall.

"I'm a lawyer."

"Suits you; you're pretty good at fighting with people." He smirked teasingly and she rolled her green eyes, pushing his shoulder. "Here, take this over to Peggy and she'll get you ready to vibrate."

"Vibrate?" she demanded.

"Yeah, you stand on the box with a head weight and a weight on your shoulder while the box vibrates. It shakes your spine so it can be trained to grab onto your nerves and stay there. See you next week, Patticakes."

"Whatever, Cockroach," she sighed, heading in the direction of the blonde woman.

* * *

"Hey, babe," Nick smirked, leaning on the locker beside hers.

She looked up at him in shock and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "H-hi, Nick."

He reached down and cupped the back of her neck, bringing her head toward his. She stood stiffly, not really knowing what to do. After all, it was only her second kiss.

He pulled back and took her hand, closing her locker. "So, why don't we go out tonight? Maybe a movie?"

"Um, sure," she nodded slowly, pulling her bag farther up her shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked in concern, halting.

She turned to him and sighed softly. "You're my first boyfriend. It just takes some getting used to, I guess."

"Well, don't worry, because you're sort of the first girl I've really liked." He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck

"But…I just got here a little over a week ago. You haven't known me very long." She pointed out.

"Yeah, but I saw you your first day of school. I've kind of been admiring you from afar, I guess. It took me awhile to work up the courage to talk to you."

"Oh," she blushed.

"I'll see you later," he grinned, pressing a kiss to her forehead and jogging off in the other direction to his next class.

* * *

Gracie skipped out into the sunlight as it shown onto the playground that was built behind both her school and the school Matty attended. She looked around and spotted the sandbox, where boy sat. She ran up to the box, her pigtails bouncing in the wind. "Hi, I'm Gracie," she held her hand out to Arthur Lewis, her blue eyes wide.

"I'm Arthur," he grinned, shaking her hand. "Do you want to build a sand castle with me?"

"Sure!" she sat beside him and they carefully constructed a tall castle out of the sand from the sandbox. She reached out of the box and grabbed a handful of pebbles that surrounded the box. She picked each one carefully, putting them in the windows and around the sides. "Ta-da!"

"We make a good team." He commented.

"Hi, G-Gracie," Matty greeted his little sister, standing outside the sandbox with his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Hi, Matty," she waved. "This is Arthur."

"Hi," Arthur grinned and Matty waved back awkwardly.

"Arthur!"

Their heads snapped toward the angry brunette as she marched toward them. "You filled my purse with sand again!" Lynn stomped her foot, turning her sparkly blue and purple purse over. Sand poured out of the pocket. "Where did you hide my cherry chap stick, mirror, and phone?"

"It's a calculator, Lynn." Arthur pointed out with a laugh, rocking backwards.

Lynn glowered at him and Matty reached out and poked her shoulder. She turned to him sharply and he swallowed.

"I-I'm good at finding things."

She reached out and took his hand. "Then help me."

"O-okay," he mumbled, letting her pull him around the playground.

* * *

Michael stared blankly at the notebook paper in front of him. Emily had given him an equation to solve. So while he was sitting there, confused out of his mind, she was across from him with her earbuds in. Michael found himself wondering what she was listening to. She was barely mouthing the words and her foot was tapping on the floor. He thought, maybe she was just listening to pop, like every other girl in school. But then again, she didn't really give off the pop loving kind of vibe. And by the bobbing of her head, he doubted it was anything slow or classical.

"Are you doing alright with that equation?"

Her question pulled him out of his thoughts and he nodded dumbly in response.

"I have to go get something from my locker. I'll be back in a few minutes." She said as she stood up, and disappeared around the bookcase that shielded them from the rest of the school.

Michael directed his gaze back to the paper, rocking his pencil between his forefinger and middle finger. And then he stopped.

Emily had left her phone.

Hesitantly, he stood up and sat in Emily's chair. He unlocked the device with a swipe across the screen and found her music files. He tapped the artist button. His eyebrows raised in surprise as he scrolled through the bands and singers she had listed; A Day To Remember, Asking Alexandria, Automatic Loveletter, Black Veil Brides, Bring Me The Horizon, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Nirvana…

He blackened the screen before sitting back at his place.

"Rock 'n roll, huh?" he mumbled.

* * *

**Review?**

**"They say we're too young to know what it feels like to cry and cry. But we'll change our ways tonight. So strong and so so cold out these day. But we'll change our ways. Because the kids will take their monsters on with all swords drawn, we'll show them all." -The Curtain Close, Automatic Loveletter**

**I love those lyrics so much... :')**

**-Rachel**


	11. Chapter 10

**Yay! Another update! I'm doing really well with writing this story. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Jerome pushed of the side of his minibus when Matty ran out the front doors of the school, followed by Gracie.

"Daddy, daddy," Gracie squealed excitedly, hopping up into his waiting arms. She wrapped her arms and legs around him. "Can I go to Arty house for a play date? I like his name because it has art in it. But he's not good at art, daddy."

"Wait a second," he chuckled, ruffling Matty's hair when he hugged his waist. "You want to have a play date?"

"Jerome, hey, mate," Alfie grinned, jogging up to them.

"Alfonzo, my man, how've you been?" he smiled, slapping him on the shoulder.

"I've got kids,"

"It's crazy, isn't it?"

"So yeah, Arthur wanted Gracie to come over to our house today, if that's all right."

"Yeah, that's cool; I'll pick her up later."

"Great," Alfie watched Gracie jump out of her father's arms and run to the car where Arthur was waving at her. "Hey, did Amber talk to yet?"

"About what?"

"Trix and Eddie are having a barbeque Friday and Amber took the liberty of inviting everyone. She was going to ask you to come and bring the kids. I guess so we can catch up and meet the family."

"I'll let you know on that."

"Alright, I'll catch you later. We need to talk."

"Absolutely, mate," Jerome smirked and squatted in front of Matty when Alfie walked off. "Hey, kid, how was school?"

"I made a friend. I was w-wondering if she c-could come over for a play d-d-date?" he stammered, pushing his curls out of his eyes.

"Yeah, sure," he reached up and pushed Matty's hair away from his forehead. "Do you need a haircut?"

Matty shook his head quickly. "Lynn said I sh-shouldn't unless I r-really need to."

"Is she pushing you around?"

His son tugged on Jerome's tie, leaning in to whisper, "She's p-pretty. And she d-doesn't make fun of m-my stutter."

Jerome smirked and nodded. "Where is she?"

Matty pointed to Lynn as she skipped out of the school and up to her mother. Jerome let out a grunt of annoyance but let Matty lead him over to them.

"Did you ask him what I told you to?" she asked, planting her hands on her hips.

Matty nodded silently.

"I like you. You're good at following orders." She grinned taking his hand and dragging him toward the minibus as a blush darkened his pale cheeks.

"Is it alright if she comes over?" Joy asked, running a hand through her brown hair.

"Yeah, it's fine, Matty needs a friend." He replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Great, thanks, I've got to do some things today anyway. Jenna, Alfie and Amber's daughter, is my usual babysitter, but she's busy today."

"Does that mean I'm getting paid?" he smirked.

"Not a chance, Slimeball." She scoffed and waved over her shoulder as she walked to her car.

* * *

They sat silently, like they always do. Emily sat facing Michael and the wall behind him as she looked over the problems he had finished. He was looking around boredly with his feet propped up on the table.

He blew out a loud, obnoxious breath.

Emily didn't look up.

Michael rolled his eyes and sat up. He reached over and poked her shoulder with the eraser on the end of his pencil.

She looked up at him, eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off?"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head.

"He's all right now."

Emily let out a brief laugh and her face lit up as she covered her mouth. After a few seconds, she dropped her hand, a trace of a smile on her lips. "That was so lame."

"It gave me something to do." He shrugged.

* * *

Josh slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans, awkwardly following Leo down the street to the coffee shop that sat that the corner of the sidewalk.

"I'm so glad that I'm not the only guy that's our age." Leo said, looking over at the blonde. "See, there's Danni and Fiona and then your sister, but my sister doesn't want to hang out with us. Fifteen year olds, right?"

"Right," he nodded.

Leo sighed quietly, his brown eyes clouding over dreamily. "And Fiona is just…"

"Just…what?"

"She's Fiona!" he cried, pulling Josh to a stop. He looked at him as if he had insulted her. "She's pretty and smart and funny and talented and…she's perfect."

"Okay, man, calm down," Josh raised his hands level with his shoulders in surrender.

"Stay away from her; she's mine." After a second thought, he corrected himself. "Well, she's not technically mine because her parents won't let her date until she's fifteen. But she will be mine! On her fifteenth birthday, I'm going to ask her out."

"You do that, Leo." Josh mumbled, following him into the coffee shop. They strolled up to a booth in the corner where the three girls sat, sipping coffee and talking amongst themselves.

"Good afternoon, ladies. Would you like to see a magic trick?" he grinned.

"No, thank you, Leo," Fiona smiled softly.

Looking a little disappointed, Leo motioned to Josh. "This is Josh; Josh, this is Fiona, Danni, and you already know your sister."

"LouLou," Josh greeted in a monotone.

"Joshua," she retorted with a roll of her eyes.

The others looked between the two, feeling the hostility in the air. And then Leo grabbed Josh's arm, motioning to the counter on the other side of the room. "Let's go get our drinks." He suggested and pulled him away from the table.

Josh jerked his arm away from the shorter boy and marched up to the girl behind the counter. "Frozen strawberry lemonade," he sighed, jerking his hair across his forehead.

She rang him up and the lemonade came a moment later as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket. When he found only half of what he needed, he scoffed.

"Bro, I'll get it," Leo spoke up, walking around him and handing the girl the money.

Josh looked over at him as he ordered his drink and slowly picked up his. He took a sip and held out the money he had. "I'll pay the rest back later."

"You don't have to—"

"Yeah, I do," he cut him off and turned around.

"Wait, Josh, why were you and Louisa being all…"

He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, looked at him over his shoulder. "Louisa and I haven't been nice to each other for a really long time, mate."

"Why?"

"It's none of your business." He said simply with a shrug.

"Right, you're right, sorry. Sometimes, I get caught up in being curious and just keep asking questions. I also tend to ramble when I'm nervous, like I'm doing now. I get it from my mum—"

"Leo, calm yourself."

He took a deep breath, his brown eyes wide. "Right…"

"Come on," Josh chuckled, heading back to the booth.

* * *

"Hey, son, how was tutoring?" Jerome asked when Michael walked into the dining room.

"It was tutoring, how could it be? It was boring and I hated it, just like last time. And the time before that."

"It's only the third session; I'm sure it'll get better."

Michael ran a hand over his face and sighed through his nose. "Dad, I'm not going to fall for this girl. She's not even my type."

"You know, the more you say that it won't happen, the more likely that it will happen, right?" his father smirked.

"Right, I wanted to ask you something anyway. Can Yvette, my girlfriend, come over for dinner this weekend?"

"Not Friday, we're going to someone's house."

"Saturday?"

Jerome sighed, looking over the papers he was reading. "Fine."

"Thanks," he smirked and picked up the bowl that sat in the middle of the table, taking a grape from the group and popping it into his mouth.

Jerome arched an eyebrow, holding out his hand, and Michael swallowed. He plucked a grape off the vine and dropped it into his father's hand before leaving the room with the bowl. Jerome sighed slowly, glaring after his son, and tossed the grape into his mouth.

* * *

Alice bit her lip, turning to the next page of her book. She brushed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear and then, shakily, she picked up the locket that hung around her neck. She moved it along the silver chain and tugged on it anxiously as she neared the most suspenseful part of the book. Well, of that chapter.

And her eyes widened when a drop of rain landed on the paragraph she was reading. She blew gently on the page, hoping it wouldn't make the ink smudge. When a second drop landed on the corner of the page, she jumped up from the bench she had been sitting on, slinging her bag over her shoulder and grabbing her jean jacket. She hurried to a gazebo that stood not too far away and sat on one of the benches, opening her book. She examined the page, happy to find that it was already dry and nothing was wrong with it.

She pulled her legs up onto the bench, crossing her legs, and continued reading as the rain changed from a light sprinkle to heavy drops thumping against the gazebo's roof. Thunder clapped, falling on deaf ears, and lightening streaked across the sky behind her. She turned the page, resuming her anxious movements, playing with her necklace and biting her lower lip. As she neared the end of the book, she stared at it incredulously.

And then it stopped.

It ended.

"But…you can't just stop it there!" she hissed, slamming the book shut and holding it tightly as she glared at the cover. "It can't end like that!"

She pounced on her bag and dug around, looking for her wallet. When she found it, she hoped that she had money.

Twenty.

She had enough.

She blew out a slow, relieved breath and put her wallet back calmly. She tucked her book into the bag and the looked around. It was pouring, and she didn't have an umbrella.

She sat down and decided to just wait for the rain to let up. If it didn't soon, she'd just call her father and he'd pick her up.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her history textbook and highlighter, choosing to revise while she was alone. Her head shot up when she heard footsteps on the gravel path that led past the gazebo. She turned around and looked out into the rain, seeing a tall, blonde boy walking slowly with his hands in his pockets.

She smirked in amusement, sitting up on her knees and leaning her elbows on the railing behind the bench. "Do you always take walks in the pouring rain?" she called and then figure whipped around in shock.

She recognized him. He was Justin Miller. He was a grade below her but she remembered hearing a couple girls talking about him.

"Um," he scratched the back of his neck, looking around. "It wasn't planned."

"You might catch a cold, you know." She stated.

"Right," he nodded slowly. He motioned to the gazebo. "Do you mind?"

"No, come on up. I wouldn't want you to get sick and miss a day of school." she said teasingly as she came around and climbed the steps. He ran a hand through his blonde hair and shrugged his jacket off, draping it over the railing. "I'm Justin."

"Alice," she smiled, shaking his outstretched hand.

He nodded slowly and sat down on a bench a few away from hers. He looked around awkwardly, fiddling his thumbs and cracking his knuckles.

Alice shrugged and sat down, going back to her revising.

* * *

"You know, I'm surprised you came up with that without a PhD." Justin scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"At least I could get a PhD."

"You're so condescending."

"Do you even know what condescending means?" Alice snapped, her blue eyes flaring.

"Of course I know what it means, I'm not stupid."

"You could've fooled me." Alice's attention was pulled to the park around the gazebo. The rain had stopped. She couldn't remember when but it probably happened while she and Justin had been arguing.

"I'm leaving. You should go home too, Earth is full, anyway." Justin smirked, turning and leaving the gazebo casually.

"Somewhere out there is a tree, tirelessly producing oxygen so you can breathe. I think you owe it an apology.

"Brat!" he hollered back with a laugh.

"Slacker." Alice called snippily.

* * *

**Review?**

**"In the night ahead there's a light upon this house on a hill. The living, living still. Their intention is to kill and they will, they will. But the children are doing fine. I think about them all the time. Until they drink their wine and they will, they will, they will." -House on a Hill, The Pretty Reckless**

**-Rachel**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey! I don't know if you guys know this or not, but I adopted _An Adventure_ from Cabitha, so I posted the first chapter to that yesterday. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey, Al," Michael smiled, poking his head into her bedroom.

She paused the documentary on her laptop and spun around in her desk chair. "Hey, Mickey,"

Michael said nothing but rolled his eyes and stepped into the room. He sat down on her bed. "I'm a horrible brother, aren't I?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I let you think that you had to be a loner just so I can have friends." he shook his head. "No, the whole thing with the teacher was forgotten by lunch. No one cares. I actually would prefer that people know that you're my sister. Especially Nick. If he hurts you, I'll kill him."

"He likes me Michael, let it go."

"Don't say that," he hissed, his eyes darting to the door.

"Wh—oh," she realized just as the door burst open and Gracie ran in, sliding across the hardwood floor on her mix matched socks.

"Let it go! Let it go! Can't hold it back anymore! Let it go! Let it—"

"Gracie, please, go sing to daddy. Michael and I are trying to talk." Alice pleaded.

"Okay," she sighed sadly and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"You hurt her feelings," Michael frowned, jerking his head in the direction of the door.

"Shut up,"

* * *

Fiona took a swig from her water bottle, sitting in one of the seats in the school theater. Beside her sat Danni. Louisa was back stage, preparing for the next scene of the rehearsal.

"Danielle,"

Fiona looked up to see Eric Stanley pulling Danni's earbuds out of her ears.

Danni glared at him and kicked his shin, putting her earbuds back in. Fiona stood up and put a hand on Eric's shoulder.

"Eric, maybe you should leave her alone. She's not in the best mood today."

He rolled his gray eyes. "Whatever."

When Danni saw him disappear backstage, she sighed in relief, pulling her earbuds out and looking up at her best friend. "He's such a little cockroach. I can't stand him."

"You know, they say that guys pick on girls that they—"

"If you say that he likes me, I swear, I'll cut your hair off while you're sleeping." Danni cut her off in a monotone.

* * *

Jerome smirked, slipping into the classroom and sitting down at the first desk he came to. Mara was going through a filing cabinet in the corner of the room. She closed the drawer and turned toward him. He raised his hand.

"Miss Jaffray, I have a question."

She jumped, and the papers she had held flew out of her hand and fluttered to the floor. "Jerome! Wh—what are you doing?" she exclaimed, putting a hand over her rapidly beating heart. She looked around and huffed. "Oh, fiddlesticks…"

"I'm sorry, darling," he chuckled, kneeling down beside her to help pick the papers up. Once they were stacked neatly on her desk, Jerome gripped her hips, pushing her back toward the dry-erase board on the wall. "You know, I've always had these crazy fantasies about teachers."

"J, get off me." she struggled, pushing on his shoulders and slapping his hands away from her waist. "We're in school. I could get fired!"

Jerome pouted.

Mara laughed. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I came to ask you if you wanted to have lunch with me today." He replied, sitting on the edge of her desk and wrapping an arm around her. She didn't resist this time and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"I'd love to."

"Are you going to be at Patricia and Eddie's for some party or whatever?"

"No, I can't, I have some parents-teacher conferences." She shrugged.

"Could you sign me up for one of those?" he grinned, leaning in to kiss her.

And then the school bell shrilled through the school and Mara jumped away from him. "You need to leave."

"But," he began to protest as she grabbed his arm and pulled him off the desk. She pushed him toward the door and opened it just as a student was about to enter. She gave him a final shove but he caught her elbow. "Are we still on for lunch?"

"Of course," she blushed.

"I'll pick you up. Love you." He pecked her lips quickly and winked before leaving.

"Ooh, Miss Jaffray," a girl giggled next to her friends.

"Sit down everyone," Mara sighed, hiding behind her hair.

* * *

"Okay, this one makes no sense." Michael huffed, smacking the notebook onto the table in front of Emily.

"What doesn't make sense?" she asked, her green eyes skimming over the page.

"Everything! Why do I even need to know how to do this crap? It's pointless! I don't want to have to do anything that involves science."

"Okay, Michael, look," she stood up and slid the notebook back to him. "Try taking it step by step. Do this part first—"

She stopped walked when the James Bond theme song started playing from her bag. Michael looked up at her and a blush pooled on her pale cheeks.

"Just, um…hold on a second." she mumbled and rushed to her bag. She pulled out her phone and answered the call, walking to the end of the bookcase, holding the device to her ear. "Hi, daddy—no, I'm tutoring—I told you that—no, I'm not—I mean, I just thought—but I can't—because the session isn't—yes, sir. I'll be home in a few minutes." She turned back to Michael and put her things back in her bag. "I'm sorry, I have to go. Work on that. I'll see you Monday, or whenever."

Michael watched her scurry off and sighed, slouching in his chair.

* * *

"Dare I say, you look happy today," Jenna gasped, leaning her back on the lockers beside Justin's.

Her best friend rolled his green eyes and slung his bag over his shoulder. She shut his locker door and skipped up after him.

"Really though, what's up, tiger,"

"Nothing's up," he shrugged.

"You have a crush!" she realized. She grabbed his arm and hauled him to a dark hallway. "Who is she?"

"Jenna," he hissed. "I don't like anyone. She's just an annoying brat that yelled at me at the park."

"So she likes you too?" she asked.

"Wha—no, Jenna, no one likes anyone. She has a boyfriend, she doesn't like me and we barely even met yesterday."

"Oh," she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "That sucks."

Justin rolled his eyes again and brushed past her, walking back into the hallway.

"Can you at least tell me who she is?"

Justin turned to her sharply.

"Even though you don't have a crush on her," she added quickly.

"Alice Clarke," he sighed, running a hand through his spiked up hair.

"Our parents' friend's daughter? Huh." She looked away thoughtfully.

Justin pinched her arm and she jumped, straightening her cream colored sweater. "So, how's your day been?"

"Fine," he sighed.

"How's life?"

"Fine,"

"I'm gonna do drugs later."

"Fine," she quoted with him with a deep, obnoxious voice.

"You still want to talk about Alice, don't you?"

"Ya," she shrugged sheepishly.

"Why don't you just talk to her? She's our age; she's just a grade above us."

Jenna flicked her brown hair over her shoulder and planted her hands on her hips. "If she yelled at my best friend, she doesn't deserve me talking to her."

"Right on, babe," he winked before they parted ways to go to their separate class rooms.

* * *

**Review?**

**"If moves were a dance hand in hand, we would be tapping sporadically throughout the streets. And I'd sing you a song the way Judy does in a picture of parades and Ferris wheels we'd go around." -Old Move, Automatic Loveletter**

**-Rachel**


	13. Chapter 12

**ANOTHER UPDATE?! I'M ON A ROLL TODAY!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"I swear if anyone rips an arm off, you're all grounded for a week." Jerome said to his kids as they walked down the sidewalk and headed up to the front door of Patricia and Eddie's house. He knocked and a few seconds later, the door swung open, and Amber smiled brightly.

"Welcome!"

"Amber, calm down," Jerome instructed.

"Don't be a party-pooper, Jerome," she scolded, turning to the kids with a smile, clasping her hands together excitedly.

"Me? Don't you have Killjoy here?" he scoffed.

"Well, yes, but—"

"Then don't tell me not to be a party-pooper because she'll ruin everything just by standing in the room."

"I heard that, Slimeball," Joy called through the house.

"Good," he retorted, brushing past Amber as she began to talk to his children.

"So all the kids are in the backyard, if you guys want to go back there; and dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Mrs. Lewis," Louisa smiled, following her siblings through the house to the backyard.

Jerome sat down on one of the chairs on the patio next to Alfie and Amber handed him a glass of iced tea. "Thanks," he mumbled, lifting it to look at it in slight disgust. He set it on the table between him and Alfie and leaned back in the chair.

"So, Jerry, how's it going?" Eddie asked, spinning meat tongs on his finger.

"Alright," he shrugged, his attention on Gracie as Arthur chased her, growling.

"So…" Amber grinned, sitting on the arm of Alfie's chair, poking his cheek.

"What's up with you two? You're more lovey dovey than usual." Patricia made a face, hitting Eddie's arm and jerking a thumb back at the grill.

"Well," Amber giggled.

"Amber's pregnant," Alfie said simply, popping a chip into his mouth from a bowl.

"Boo, we were supposed to tell them together," she whined.

"Oh, right, sorry, baby," he mumbled sheepishly. "I'm just excited."

"Congrats, mate," Jerome smirked, slapping him on the back.

"If you guys keep this up, you might pass Jerome up." Joy laughed.

"Not possible. They wouldn't be able to handle it anyway." Jerome smirked.

"Don't challenge me, Jerome Clarke." Amber warned.

"What?" Alfie's brown eyes grew wide as she walked away.

* * *

Jenna flicked Justin's forehead. "Come on, look at her. She's so lonely." She pouted sympathetically up at the blonde as he looked anywhere but Alice, where she sat on the other side of the backyard, sitting against a tree trunk with a book.

"I don't care." He stated, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's a brat. I don't want to be around her."

"Why not," Jenna droned, her head falling to rest on his shoulder. "You two would make such a cute couple!"

"No, she's happy with her boyfriend—Jenna, leave it alone or I'll disown you."

She gasped in shock when he stood up and her face came into contact with the patio couch cushion.

* * *

Gracie shrieked and ran up to her father, tugging on his arm as her eyes filled with tears.

"What's wrong," he asked, sitting up.

"Arty put a worm in my hair!" she cried, shaking her head.

Jerome held back a laugh as Alfie stood up, scolding his son. Jerome held Gracie still and found the worm, pulling it out of her curls and tossing it into the garden that bordered the patio. "Baby, you're okay," he whispered soothingly, wiping her tears off her chubby cheeks.

She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. When Arthur ran up to her, she stuck her tongue out at him. "I don't want to be your friend anymore."

His face fell and he walked away slowly.

Gracie huffed and crawled up into Jerome's lap.

"Monkey, don't you think that was a little mean?" he asked, kissing her temple.

"He was meaner!" she protested.

Jerome rolled his eyes and picked up his iced tea, he held it up for her and she took it gratefully, taking a long sip.

"Thank you, daddy," she breathed out and then she looked over at Arthur, where he sat in the grass. She jumped out of Jerome's lap and ran back up to Arthur. "I'm sorry, Arty."

"I'm sorry, Gracie." He mumbled, pulling grass out of the ground.

"Do you want to be friends again?" she asked, getting down on the ground and poking his shoulder.

He nodded eagerly.

* * *

Louisa took a sip of her lemonade as Leo and Josh walked up to where she, Danni and Fiona sat.

"Hey, Louisa, hey, Danni," Leo grinned. "Hey, Fiona,"

"Hey, Leo," Fiona smiled with a wave.

"Do you want to see a magic trick?"

The Danni and Fiona sighed and looked at each other. "Sure," they shrugged and stood up. They rounded the bench they were sitting on and squatted behind it, peeking over the back.

"Go ahead," Danni allowed.

Leo rubbed his hands together as Louisa cautiously hid behind the bench with her friends.

"Abracadabra!" he cried and pulled a bouquet of flowers out of his sleeve.

Danni blew out a relieved breath.

"For the pretty lady," he said a little shyly, holding the flowers out to Fiona.

"Aw, thank you, Leo," she smiled, taking them from him. She sat back down on the bench on Danni's left side.

Josh rolled his blue eyes and jerked his thumb back at the patio. "I'm gonna go get some lemonade."

He stopped at the table and poured himself a glass. He turned and took a sip. His eyes met his father's. "Don't be a creep, dad."

"Josh," he started.

"What? No one's lost a limb yet, right?" he chuckled, heading back to the others.

* * *

Alice looked up from her book when Jenna sat beside her on the grass.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Hi," Alice echoed, bookmarking her page and closing her book.

"I'm Jenna Lewis," she held her hand out and Alice shook it.

"Alice Clarke,"

"Right, I know, Justin told me about you."

Alice's bright eyes flitted to Justin briefly before eyeing Jenna cautiously. "What did he say?"

"He said that you're annoying," she said simply.

"I guess it takes an annoying person to know an annoying person."

Jenna laughed. "Too true. He's probably going to kill me though; he's glaring at me not you. I told him that because you yelled at him, you don't deserve to talk to me, but I thought that I'd talk to you anyway. I need a girlfriend."

Alice chuckled, her hair brushing her cheeks. "I could, too."

"Great! Then we could go get some coffee sometime and hang out. This is going to be fantastic! Finally, I have someone to talk to about things that guys just don't understand."

"Even when they pretend to?"

"Exactly."

* * *

"So, Jerome, who's the oldest again," Amber asked, handing him a paper plate.

"Michael," he replied, "and then Alice, the twins, Matty, and Gracie is the youngest."

"Jeez, you were busy," Patricia mumbled, eyeing the kids. "Are they more like you or your ex?"

"I like to think they're all more like me. They're probably a little like Kate in some ways and I'm just in denial." He shrugged.

"What are they all like; in the shortest answers possible." Eddie said, dishing a hotdog for Alfie.

"Michael's like me when I was sixteen; Alice is insanely smart and I don't know where she got it from; Louisa's the performer; Josh is the loner; Matty doesn't like to talk; and Gracie's the artistic, social butterfly."

"You know, when I watch you talk about your kids, I can tell that you're so proud of them and you love them more than anything." Amber shook her head in amazement.

"Let's not get mushy here, Amber." Jerome mumbled, sipping from his lemonade.

* * *

Lynn pulled on Matty's hand until they were standing behind the big tree by the back of the fence that surrounded the backyard. She put her hands on his shoulder, looking him in the eye. "Matty, we're going to play house. I'm the mummy and you're the daddy. That is our baby, Christina," she explained, pointing to a baby doll that sat in a stroller by the fence's gate. "Do you understand?"

He nodded silently and followed her to where the baby was. She began pushing the stroller and stopped it next to the table on the patio. She turned to Matty and planted her hands on her hips.

"Stay here with Christina while I go get my purse from the car." She said and stood on her toes, pecked him quickly.

"Lynn Marie!" Joy cried as the small girl ran into the house. "I'm sorry, Jerome."

"It's fine," he laughed, covering his mouth as he watched Matty's cheeks turn red.

"D-d-dad, st-st-stop laughing," Matty said, his embarrassment only making his stutter worse.

"I'm sorry, kiddo," he chuckled, ruffling his hair as Lynn ran back up to him. She put her purse in the basket under the baby and tugged on Matty's arm. "Come on, let's go," she said and began pushing the stroller away from the adults.

* * *

**Review?**

**"How am I supposed to be everything they expect me to be when I feel so alone 'cause I left my heart at home. She needs me, but I know they need me too. So, God, give me the strength to do what you created me to do." -Miles Away, Memphis May Fire**

**-Rachel**


	14. Chapter 13

**So, I don't usually upload unless I get four or five reviews on the last thing I posted, and since I only got two reviews on the last chapter in two days, I wasn't going to post for a while. But I decided to be nice. :) Thank you SibunaGleekR5er and houseofanubisfan2 (who was my 50th reviewer)! You guys are very consistent reviewers and I appreciate that. **

**This chapter may be a little weird, but this story can get a little weird...**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Jerome sighed in content as Mara ran her fingers through his hair while his head rested in her lap.

"Are you even watching the movie?" she asked with a laugh.

"I've seen it a million times. I'd rather just sit here and bask in each other's presence." He whispered.

"Very well," she smiled, turning off the TV and directing her attention back to him, tracing her fingers over his face. "You look younger than last week."

"Are you saying I looked old?" he gasped jokingly.

"Of course not, I'm just saying, you look a little youthful today." She corrected herself.

"You make me feel young, Jaffray."

"I guess six kids take a lot out of you, huh?"

"Maybe you should try it," he smirked.

"Not today," she shook her head, bending down to peck his lips.

"I'm in love with you." He breathed.

She laughed softly. "I'm in love with you, too."

"Will you say yes when I ask you to marry me?"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

Nick smirked, throwing an arm around Alice's shoulders as they strolled down the street. When they reached the coffee shop, he opened the door and she stepped in before him. She picked a booth for them to sit at while he ordered the drinks. When he sat down, he sat beside her on her side of the booth. He sat a little closer than she would have wanted him to, but didn't say anything.

"So what are you doing tomorrow?" he asked.

She shrugged, blowing on her drink to cool it faster. "I don't think I'm doing anything. It's a Sunday; no one really does anything on Sundays in my family."

"Then how about a date with me?" he suggested, twirling a lock of her hair around his finger.

"Alright," she mumbled shyly.

"Alright," he mimicked her, leaning down and brushing a kiss over her ear.

* * *

Leo groaned when Josh shot his player down again. "How do you keep doing that?" he exclaimed.

"Why do you keep shooting from the hip?" Josh chuckled, jerking the joystick around on his controller.

"So is what happened between you in Lou really that bad?" the dark-skinned boy asked cautiously a few minutes later.

Josh sighed in annoyance. "What happened between me and Louisa was…something that probably won't be fixed for a really long time. But it was enough to stop being the stereotypical best of friends twins people expect us to be."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I just don't think that siblings should have really bad problems between them."

"Trust me, mate, I love Lou to death—I have to, she's my sister—but friendship is just not going to happen again. I'm sure of it."

* * *

Louisa rolled onto her back, holding her cellphone to her ear and staring up at the ceiling. "You know, Leo's cute. I just realized that yesterday. He's like…a childish kind of cute."

Fiona laughed on the other line. "I know right? He's like a five year old boy—"

"—trapped in a thirteen year old's body." Louisa finished for her.

"Right!" Fiona sighed. "You know who else is cute? Andrew Leeway."

"Oh my, gosh, I know! And Trent Wane."

"Yes!"

Louisa sighed dreamily and sat up. "I'm totally excited for when I turned fifteen; I can date then."

"My dad said the same thing! I can't wait!"

The doorbell rang and Louisa groaned in annoyance. "I have to go; my brother's girlfriend is coming over for dinner. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, have fun," she said teasingly.

"Yeah, right," she rolled her blue eyes and headed for her bedroom door.

* * *

"Dad, I'm serious. I really like this girl – I'm really serious about her. So please, don't mess it up for me. Don't judge her, alright?" Michael begged, running his fingers through his hair repeatedly in front of the mirror that hung in the foyer.

"When do I ever judge your girlfriends?" Jerome scoffed, stepping down the last step onto the first floor.

"You judged Veronica for her tattoos and Miranda for her hair and Jeanette for her piercings—"

"That's not why I disapproved of them. Veronica smoked around the kids; Miranda cursed constantly; and Jeanette almost gave Lou a tongue piercing when she was twelve years old! I have reasons to judge your girlfriends. I really hope this one's different."

"She is. Her name's Yvette and she's amazing—" He said and turned to the door when the bell rang.

"She's here." Jerome announced.

Michael took a deep breath and marched up to the door. He swung it open and smiled at the girl on the other side. "Hey, babe," he murmured, leaning in to kiss her.

She smiled up at him and followed him into the house. He wrapped his arm around her waist and motioned to her, facing his father.

"Dad, this is Yvette. Babe, this is my dad, Jerome."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Clarke." she greeted, leaning forward and shaking his hand, blue eyes giving him a once over.

"Yvette," he bowed his head, his eyes studying her short, sleeveless dress; blue and black scene hairdo; multiple piercings on her mouth; tattoo on her wrist; spiked high heels; and the aroma of smoke radiating off her.

Michael directed her toward the common room and Jerome caught his arm as she walked away.

"Oh, yeah, she's nothing like the others." He hissed sarcastically.

Michael rolled his blue eyes and sat next to his girlfriend.

"Hey, Mr. C," Yvette called from the sofa. "Can I smoke in here?"

Jerome's eyes flitted to his son briefly and then looked back at her. "No."

"Damn," she huffed.

* * *

Jerome ran a hand through his hair piling dishes into the kitchen sink. The kids had run off after dinner ended and Michael had gone to the bathroom, leaving Yvette sitting at the kitchen table. When he had finished cleaning up from dinner, he turned back toward her, but he found her sitting on the kitchen counter with her legs crossed.

She arched an eyebrow and licked her lips. "Michael's older version is much sexier."

Jerome closed his eyes with a slow sigh. "Great," he whispered, loosening his tie.

"Can't you let me do that, Mr. Clarke?" she smirked.

Jerome blinked.

"Hey, babe, you want me to walk you home?" Michael asked, walking into the room.

Yvette hopped off the counter and nodded. Michael nodded once and headed to the front door. She turned back to Jerome and blew him a kiss and a wink. "See you later, Mr. Clarke."

Once she and his son left the house, Jerome face palmed. "Why me?" he mumbled.

* * *

**Review?**

**Question: Would any of you like Nina, KT, Mick or Willow to appear in the story? That would mean more kids...But we love the kids, don't we? ;)**

**"Blame the family. Blame the bully. Blame it all on me. Maybe he needed to be wanted. Blame the family. Blame the bully. Maybe he needed to be wanted." -Bully, Three Days Grace**

**-Rachel**


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey!**

**I can update several times in one day because I have a bunch of the next chapters pre-written!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hey," Alice greeted Jenna, putting her purse down on the opposite seat of the booth. "I'll be back in a second; I just need to pick my drink up."

"Alright," Jenna nodded and took a long sip from her iced latte.

When Alice came back with a latte of her own, she blew softly on the foam on the top of the drink.

"You're in the grade above us right? Even though you're our age?"

Alice looked up and nodded. "Um, my teacher thought that I was 'too smart' to be in a lower grade. I just did my homework." She shrugged as a blush crawled up her neck.

Jenna chuckled. "You're so modest. I bet you're really smart. What do you want to do after school?"

"I want to be a journalist, actually. People assume that I'd want to be a doctor or a liar, but…it's not exactly for me."

"Don't you just hate it when people assume things?" Jenna groaned. "Yesterday, Arthur assumed that he could spray me with _Silly String_ when I just woke up. He almost lost a finger. No one messes with me before I get my breakfast."

Alice laughed. "That sounds like something Josh would do."

"Little brothers," Jenna rolled her brown eyes.

"I know right?"

* * *

Danni glowered at the blonde standing before her and rested her back on the lockers behind her. "What do you want, Stanley?"

"You know what I think?" he smirked, taking a step closer to her.

"Enlighten me, weasel."

"I think you like me." he chuckled.

"I think you're delirious," she retorted, stepping around him and starting down the hallway.

"Oh come on, Danni, what's not to like?" he grinned, following her. "I mean, look at me. I'm hot."

"You're thirteen. You can't be hot yet." Danni scoffed and stopped abruptly. "And I've seen your older brother; it only goes downhill from here, honey."

As she continued, he called after her, "You'll kick yourself one day when I'm no longer available."

* * *

The longer they sat there, working silently, the more Michael could hear. Faintly, he could hear Emily humming. She didn't have her earbuds in, but she definitely had a song stuck in her head. He stopped his leg from bobbing and leaned forward a little, resting his elbows on the table. Her head was moving side to side with her humming as she looked over the problems he had solved. It only took Michael a second more of observation to realize the song she was humming was _Stairway To Heaven_. He smiled faintly and went back to work, letting her humming keep him focused.

* * *

"Oh, Josh, hey!" Fiona smiled, suddenly appearing next to him as he walked down the street.

He jumped and looked at her with wide, pale, blue eyes. "Hi, Fiona," he sighed.

"Crazy coincidence seeing you here, don't you think?"

"No,"

"So what are you doing?" she asked.

"Walking,"

"How about we get a coffee and talk?" she suggested, pulling on his arm as they neared the coffee shop.

"Actually, I—"

"I'll get the drinks; I know you never have any money," she whispered. "You go get us seats."

He opened his mouth to protest, but she had already walked off. He groaned, running a hand over his face. He looked out the window, considering ditching her, but then he shook his head, mumbling to himself that he was an idiot and too nice for his own good as he found a table for two. When she came back, she slid a frozen strawberry lemonade in front of him and he stared at it blankly.

"That's what you got last time, right?"

"I didn't like it." he said emotionlessly, pulling on the straw and then pushing it back in to the cup.

"Oh," Fiona's eyebrows furrowed. "Well, anyway, I just realized this morning that you and I have four classes together, but we don't really talk. So tell me, who is Josh Clarke?"

"An annoyed gamer that wants to go home." He said.

"Where are you from?" she asked, taking a sip from her latte.

"Paris,"

She nearly choked on her drink. "Are you serious? I've always wanted to go to Paris! Is it as gorgeous as the pictures I've seen?"

"I don't remember it. We moved when Louisa and I were three."

"Oh," she mumbled, stirring her spoon around the large mug. "Louisa's your twin right? Are you guys like total best friends?"

Josh resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "No."

"Oh, I thought that twins were always closer than the average siblings."

"Then you were wrong," he said simply.

Fiona sighed quietly, looking off into the distance. She twirled a strand of her brown hair around her finger and then looked back at him. "You seem like a really nice guy."

"Thanks," he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, pretending to read a text. He picked up his cup and stood. "Thanks for the drink, but I have to go. Bye."

* * *

Matty hopped off his bed, comic book in hand, and ran to the door when he heard his father announce that he was home. "Daddy," he called, hurrying down the stairs.

"Hey, kiddo, how's it going?"

"I read this whole comic without help! Do you want to hear?" he asked.

"Sure," Jerome followed his son into the common room and sat down on the couch. He lifted Matty onto his lap and his son opened to the first page of the comic.

"One week ago," Matty began mysteriously, "The un-unidentified female entered the City Bank of Gotham at d-dusk, just p-prior to closing. 'Hello, Mrs. Wenner, Haven't seen _you_ here r-recently.' She presented herself as Vivian Wenner, G-Gotham social…"

"Socialite," Jerome whispered.

"…socialite. 'No, d-dearie, I've b-been…occupied. I'm also afraid I'm a s-smidge p-pressed for time…" he continued and Jerome helped him with words he could quite pronounce. While Matty was reading, the other kids came home and went off to do their own things. "'I r-remember your name from the news. Harvey B-Bullock, r-right?' 'That…that wasn't me.' 'That was you, I'm sure of it.' 'Nope, sorry, friend…you're thinking of somebody else.' The end!"

"Good job, Matty," Jerome grinned. "That was a lot of reading."

"M-my throat is a little dry." He whispered, coughing once.

Jerome chuckled. "Come on, let's start dinner." He said, getting up as Matty ran to get himself a drink.

"D-daddy," Matty started, resting his hands on the counter as Jerome searched the fridge, looking for something to prepare for supper. "Will we ever g-get a new mummy? Will your g-girlfriend b-be our new mummy?"

"You want to know a secret?" Jerome whispered, crouching next to him.

Matty nodded eagerly.

"I'm working on it." he winked.

* * *

**Review?**

**Question: Out of all the kids, who is your OTP so far?**

**"I wanna be somewhere. The light of your face is gleaming through your hair. And I wanna trade places with the one who you've trusted for deepest embraces and all of your secrets. And I wanna trade places, yeah." -Trade Places, Automatic Loveletter**

**-Rachel**


	16. Chapter 15

**Hey!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"You're so aggravating!" Michael groaned, running his fingers through his blonde hair.

"I'm aggravating?" Emily scoffed. "You're the one that blows off everything that I say to you. It all goes in one ear and out the other. Don't you think that gets a little aggravating?"

"Keep your voice down, would you? We're in a library you know."

"And there's a two percent chance your friends will find us back here and ruin your 'reputation'." She snapped.

"Only a two percent chance; what's that supposed to mean?"

"All your friends are idiots!"

"…Okay, you're right, they are idiots, but that doesn't mean they won't come back here. Some students have quickies here."

Emily covered her face when it heated up in embarrassment.

Michael laughed. "I knew that shy little girl was still there; you're just putting on a front, Sweets."

"Don't call me _sweets_, my name is Emily." She mumbled, hugging herself.

"Or maybe I should just stick to Four-Eyes, it suits you better."

Emily pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose self-consciously and looked at the ceiling in annoyance. Michael watched her. She seemed to be having an argument with herself. Her eyes landed back on him and she scrunched her nose, as if disgusted just at the sight of him.

"Look, alright, you—you're right. I'm being stubborn and I won't listen to you. If we can just forget our differences, we can work this out. You teach, I listen—truce?" he held his hand out, arching a dark eyebrow.

She sighed and her nose scrunched up again. She shook his hand. "Truce."

* * *

Gracie hummed quietly as she skipped up to Josh, where he sat on the sofa in the living room, playing game on the Wii. "Joshy,"

"Yeah, Gracie?" he mumbled.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot,"

She came around the couch and sat on his lap. He shifted slightly, trying to make himself comfortable under her weight. She brushed his fringe out of his eyes and then put her hands in her lap. "Can you tell me why you're sad now?"

Josh took a deep breath and paused his game. He looked at his little sister and ran his fingers through her soft hair. "You can't help me, sis."

"But…I don't want you to be sad! If you're sad, I'm sad."

"No, Gracie," he shook his head. "You can't be sad. You're the only one in the family that makes everyone happy just by being here."

"Can you at least tell me why you're sad?" she asked.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Oh," she frowned and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him. "I hope you feel better, Joshy."

"Thanks, Grace, just don't tell anyone, okay? It's our little secret. I'll be fine." He whispered, helping her onto the floor.

"I won't tell anyone." She declared, pretending to zip up her lips, lock them and toss the key.

He copied her action and watched her run out of the room. He sighed and resumed his game.

* * *

"What's with you and Fiona?" Danni asked bluntly as she and Leo sat on the merry-go-round in the park.

"What do you mean?" he asked, wide-eyed.

"Oh, shut up, you like her, don't you?"

"Danni, you—you can't tell her! On her birthday, I'm going to ask her out. It needs to be a surprise." He said hurriedly.

"A surprise?" she laughed. "It's so obvious!"

"Is it," he winced.

"Well, maybe not to her," she shrugged. She swung her legs over one of the handles and hung upside down. "But you're seriously going to ask her out on a date when she turns fifteen?"

"Yeah, don't you think she'll say yes? You're her best friend; shouldn't you know?"

"Well, she's never really said anything about you, honestly." She mumbled. When she saw his face fall in disappointment, she jumped to add quickly, "But I'm sure she'd say yes."

"No, she probably wouldn't. She's too pretty and talented and nice and…she's just too perfect. I don't deserve her, do I?"

"Nonsense, Leo," Danni protested, swinging off the bar and sitting across from him on the metal platform. "You know Fiona thinks you're funny. Everyone thinks you're funny."

"Yeah, thanks, Danni," he sighed, running a hand over his hair.

Danni looked away awkwardly, feeling extremely guilty that she couldn't make him feel better.

* * *

"Mara, please," Jerome huffed, peeking around the fat tree trunk.

Mara shook her head and backed away from him. The sun was setting beyond the trees in the park while Jerome chased Mara around. "Oh, no," she chuckled nervously. "I don't like that look in your eyes."

"Look in my eyes—what look in my eyes?" he asked with a smile. He stepped over the large roots and smirked. "Come now, darling."

"Really, J, right here, out in the open with everyone looking," she asked.

"Oh please, no one's out here at this time at night." He grinned, rushing toward her.

"No," she laughed, running away from him.

When he was within arm's reach of her, he grabbed her waist and spun her around in his arms and held her close to him. "Right here, out in the open, with everyone looking," he whispered.

"J, don't do anything I wouldn't do." she warned.

"Of course not," he chuckled, pressing his lips to hers.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. "J," she murmured, pulling away.

He hummed in acknowledgement, cupping the back of her neck.

"I have work tomorrow."

"So?" he said, kissing her jaw.

"I need to go home," she explained and began pulling out of his arms.

"No," he whined, tugging her back into his chest.

"Jerome Clarke, you have work, too."

He groaned, running his fingers through his hair. "Stupid work, it ruins my life."

"Hush," she laughed.

* * *

**Review?**

**"'Cause the walls burned up and our love fell down, and turned into whatever, now we're saying never. Feel the fire 'cause it's all around and it's burning forever and always. You gotta let it go the other way and live for another day 'cause it ain't the same, my baby. Watch it all falling to the ground. No happy ever after, just disaster." -Disaster, JoJo**

**-Rachel**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hey! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Knock, knock,"

Jerome looked up from his computer as Mara poked her head into his office. "Who's there?" he smirked.

"You're girlfriend with a picnic. How do you feel about that?"

"We'll have to do it here; I'm not allowed to leave today."

"So be it," she said and he laid the blanket on the floor, locking the door as he sat down. Mara unpacked the food, naming what was in each bowl.

"Alright," Jerome started, taking a bite of his sandwich. "How about you come over for dinner Friday and meet the kids?"

"J, I'm nervous."

"What? Why? My kids are harmless, sometimes—and they're going to love you. Alice already thinks we make the perfect couple. Louisa really wants a mother to talk to. Gracie wants a mother for her birthday. Matty would probably talk more often. I think the only two you need to worry about are Josh and Michael." He explained.

Mara sighed and looked up at him through her lashes. "Will you protect me?"

"Absolutely," he promised.

"Alright, I'll come over."

"Yay," he cheered softly.

"Kiss me?" she smiled.

"At work, Jaffray," he gasped. He grinned when she leaned over the food. He double checked the lock on the door and when he turned back to her, she was giving him a questioning look. "High school wasn't our friend, if I remember correctly. We don't want that incident to be repeated." He said as he closed the distance between them.

* * *

Michael gasped when he was suddenly slammed into the lockers lining the school hallway. Yvette stood in front of him, her hand on his chest.

"Have you been avoiding me?" she asked, stepping closer to him.

His eyes darted around the empty hallway, hoping to find a way out of the situation. "I haven't been avoiding you, babe, I've just been busy."

"Hmm," she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to hers. "Are you cheating on me?"

"What?" he pulled back, giving her a shocked look.

"Where do you go every day after school?"

He sighed. "I'm getting tutored in science. Don't worry, babe." And he let her kiss him again, running her run her fingers through his hair.

He almost sighed in annoyance. This was all they ever did.

* * *

"So do you love drama yet?" Fiona asked, sitting next to Danni at the table on the school's patio.

"I could live without seeing Eric Stanley every day." The brunette replied simply.

Fiona rolled her brown eyes. "Have you ever tried to look at him in a new way?"

"Nope," she looked up and arched an eyebrow. "Have you been looking at anyone in a new way lately?"

"Yeah," Fiona twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, her eyes trained on the table where Leo and Josh sat.

Danni stole a glance at the table and then leaned toward her friend. "Who?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Danni nodded eagerly.

* * *

_Michael ran a hand through his hair nervously, licking his thin lips as he looked up to the second floor. What was taking so long? He tapped his foot against the floor and breathed in deeply. He was so nervous. Why? He didn't know. He didn't need to be, but…she wasn't an ordinary girl. _

"_Mike, calm down," his father laughed from behind him. _

"_I can't! This is a big deal. She…she means everything to me, dad."_

"_I know, but it's all gonna work out. Everything will be fine." He assured him, patting his shoulder, nodding to the top of the steps._

_His blue eyes met hers and he swallowed hard, his eyes instantly widening. Wow—_

"Wha—!" he cried as he fell off the chair and onto the floor beside the table. Michael rolled onto his back, looking up at the library ceiling and seeing Emily standing above him, holding her cellphone, the source of the explosion that had pulled him out of his dream.

"Sorry, but you fell asleep." She shrugged, slipping her phone into the pack pocket of her khaki pants.

"That's okay, my dream was kinda freaking me out anyway." He mumbled, standing up and brushing his pants off. He straightened his blue t-shirt as his eyes floated back to Emily. She sat down at the table and looked up at him expectantly. He sat and kept his head down as she explained the next part of the lesson. He swallowed, praying she couldn't see the pink coloring his pale cheeks.

Why had he dreamt about her?

* * *

The streets were surprisingly calm as Jerome drove home from work. He stopped at the light and tapped his hand against the steering wheel. Looking around boredly, while music played faintly on the radio, waiting for the light to change, his eyes landed on a small shop a few blocks down. He smirked, and when the light changed, he pulled up next to the curb and parked. He hopped out of the minibus and straightened his gray blazer as he walked into the store.

He really shouldn't. He hadn't talked to his kids. They haven't met Mara yet. Mara would kill him if she knew. But…

"Hello, sir," the middle-aged saleswoman smiled from behind the counter, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I need the perfect engagement ring."

* * *

**Review?**

**So...has anyone read the _Lewis and Clarke_ update? I guess that stories not doing too hot, right? See, here's a secret; once I finish HOC, I'll be starting _The Jaffray Sisters _series and I'll have cross-overs with Lewis and Clarke and The Jaffray Sisters, which obviously means there will be couples from the show! I have to have Jara! ;) And also, if those work out, I might write a thing with Eddie, and Patricia will be in it. I could have cross-overs between him and either of the other series as well! Please bear with me on that? I really love these ideas! **

**"It should have been me, with the nails through my hands and feet, facing the wrath of God. It should have been me, left to pay for my sin, forsaken. But in the blood, I stand. It should have been me..." -Crown Of Thorns, For Today**

**-Rachel**


	18. Chapter 17

**Hey! Thanks for all the reviews guys!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Tell me why we're watching this show again?" Jenna sighed, slouching on the couch beside Justin.

"Because it's fun to laugh at people. Come on, Jen, you're British—you should love JK!"

"I don't though. I don't even understand why he's popular." She said, shaking her head.

"He says some pretty inspiring things sometimes," he defended. "Alright, fine, what do you want to watch?"

"_Back to the Future_ marathon?" she smiled slyly and Justin smirked.

"Yes, ma'am," he saluted and got up to put the movie in. "How was your date with the Brat?"

Rolling her eyes, she nudged his leg with her foot. "Fine, I can finally talk to a _girl_ about _girl_ things."

"You talk to me about girl things all the time."

"Yeah, but Alice listens, understands, and doesn't fake fear at the mention of a period."

"Oh, come on, Jen, I don't fake it." He scoffed.

She pinched his arm and sat back in the couch cushions, shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth.

Justin snorted. "You eat like your father."

"Shut up," she mumbled, throwing some popcorn at him.

* * *

"Yacker," Eddie began before Patricia cut him off, holding up her hand.

"Slimeball, if you suggest having another kid, you should—"

"Whoa, what makes you think I want more kids?"

"Joy told me Fabian brought it up with her after the barbeque. They're talking about it." she shrugged.

"I can't stand the ones I have; why would I want more?" he chuckled, looking back down at his work. "Anyway, as I was saying—" he stopped.

Patricia was gone.

* * *

"You like who?" Louisa asked, shocked.

"That's what I said!" Danni threw her arms up, falling back on Louisa's bed.

"Crazy right? But he's cute." Fiona shrugged.

"But…really? Josh? Joshua Henry Clarke?"

"Yeah, when is he allowed to date?" she asked his twin.

Louisa blinked. "I don't know. My dad didn't say anything about him. Maybe around the time Michael went on his first date—"

"Which was when?"

"Fourteen, I think—"

"Fantastic! When's your birthday?"

"In a few weeks—"

"Near my birthday! Perfect! I'll see you guys later; I have to go plan!" she called as she rushed out of the room.

Louisa stared after her, eyes wide.

Danni spoke with a chuckle, "Would your brother date that?"

"I doubt it."

* * *

Michael sat at the table and smiled at Emily while she unpacked her bag. He held out the small, white paper bag to her and she arched an eyebrow, peeking into it. She reached in and took out a handful of the colorful gummy bears.

"Thanks," she murmured, and then he busied himself with pulling out what he needed from his bag.

When he looked up, ready to start, he found her lining up the gummy bears in rows by color; first red, then yellow, then orange, then green, and then blue. She didn't notice his amused stare and proceeded to pick up each gummy bear, one by one, and bite their bodies off. She left the heads, standing them upside down, and then once only heads were left, she popped each into her mouth, one by one. When she finished with her snack, she looked up, meeting his gaze. Her cheeks burned brightly and she looked down, picking up her text book.

"Let's start," she mumbled.

* * *

"Time for dinner!" Jerome called through the house as Alice walked through the front door.

"Hey, daddy," she smiled, wrapping her arms around his back.

He chuckled, rubbing her back. "Are you alright?"

She nodded her head against his chest. "I just wanted a hug. You give the best hugs, you know."

"Really," he kissed the top of her head and she sat in her seat at the table. "Where were you?"

"Out with Nick."

"Have fun?"

"Mhmm," she nodded, taking a sip of her glass of water.

"Can you tell me a bit about him? I want to know who's dating my baby."

"Dad," she sent him a deadpanned look and he laughed, sitting next to her at the head of the table.

"I'm serious, what's he like?" he ran a hand through his hair.

"He's the captain of the boy's football team at school. He's one of the top students in school. He's nice to everyone. He's really sweet. He has a little brother and his parents have been together for twenty-one years. He wants to go to Yale…" she drifted off.

"Overall, he's a pretty good guy." He nodded. "And he likes you?"

"Yeah," she nodded.

"And you like him?"

"Yep."

"Good. I still want to meet him though."

"I know," she chuckled as her siblings rushed into the room.

"Alright, tribe, I have an announcement," Jerome clapped his hands together before his kids could dig into their food.

They all looked up at him expectantly, their forks at the ready.

"Tomorrow, all of you are going to meet my girlfriend when she comes over for dinner."

"Really," Louisa smiled.

"Yay," Gracie cheered.

"What?" Josh frowned.

"Great," Michael nodded.

"Can't wait, daddy," Alice agreed.

"D-dad said she is g-going to love us." Matty said.

"Excited?" Jerome chuckled. "So am I."

"She's pretty, right, daddy?" Gracie asked. "I want a pretty mummy. And is she smart? And fun? Will she have tea parties with me? Will she like my art? Will she be my best friend?"

Jerome chuckled kissing her head. "Yes, yes, yes,"

"Will she come to my performances?" Louisa asked.

"Will she r-read with me?" Matty questioned.

"Absolutely—"

"You love her, right, dad?" Alice wondered. "So this is it? She'll be our mother?"

Jerome nodded. "If she says yes when I ask her to marry me, that is—I have to ask her first. She won't let me ask her, yet, though."

"Well, she has to say yes," Michael spoke up.

Josh stared at his plate, listening to his siblings babble about their father's girlfriend. And of course, no one noticed that he was quiet. He just poked his food around, breathing in deeply to keep a neutral expression on his face.

* * *

**Review?**

**"Look into the emptiness and step into the cold. Right between your body and your soul. Deep inside of all of us, there's something left to hold. Even when we give up all our hope, there's space enough to grow." -Space Enough To Grow, Of Mice & Men**

**-Rachel**


	19. Chapter 18

**Hey!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Danni looked up when a piece of folded paper landed on her desk. Her eyebrows furrowed. None of her friends were in this class, and besides, she doubted any of them would be daring enough to pass notes in Burwell's class; the man was a monster.

She unfolded it, her eyes flitting to her teacher and then down at the open note.

_Boo._

She rolled her green eyes and rolled it into a ball, dropping it onto the floor, next to her feet.

And then another appeared. She gritted her teeth.

_You totally like me._

She rolled that into a ball as well and put it with the other.

A third one made it on to her desk and that was when she replied.

_Buzz off, Stanley, you're a creep._

Eric sent the paper back with his own reply.

_See what I mean? Girls pick on guys only because they like him._

She rolled her eyes.

_You pick on me. I just retaliate._

She sent the note back, hoping that would end it, but the note came back and she nearly screamed. He was so annoying.

_I don't know what that word means, but I have a feeling it means you like me. _

She let go of her control, rolled the paper into a ball and turned around. She threw it at him and it hit his forehead. He sat frozen, shocked, and then he smirked at her.

_You like me_, he mouthed, sending her a wink.

* * *

Matty quietly sat at the top of the slide, watching the school doors, waiting for Lynn to run out. He saw Gracie appear and run to where Arthur was standing by the playground tunnels. And then Lynn came out. She ran to the swings and Matty slid down the slide, walking over the swing beside hers.

She looked up and smiled. "Hi, Matty, come swing with me!"

He hopped onto the swing and began to pump his legs.

"Matty,"

"Yeah?" his blue eyes flitted to her.

"You're my boyfriend, you know." She stated.

Matty blinked. He never had a girlfriend before. But he didn't mind. He liked Lynn.

* * *

"Can we take a break? I'm tired of reading." Michael groaned, slumping against the table.

"Yeah, okay," Emily agreed, bookmarking her place in the textbook.

"Great, you wanna do something?"

"Like what?" she asked cautiously.

"Do you know how to play Gin?" he asked, taking a deck of cards out of his bag. He pulled the cards out of their box and began shuffling them.

"It's been a while since I've played, but yeah, I know how." She nodded as he dealt to both of them. She picked up her cards and started sorting out them. She picked up the ten that was in the discard pile and put another card in its place.

Michael took a card from the deck and discarded it.

They continued to play in silence, Michael's eyes flitting up to her face. She was completely calm. When she picked up another ten from discard pile, he tucked the ten he had in his hand back behind his group of cards so he wouldn't discard it and she couldn't get it and go out.

"You're collecting tens," he stated, as if he had just learned life's greatest secret.

"That's what you think." she smirked.

"That's what I know."

"What if I was going for kings?" she asked, her green eyes flitting up to him over her black glasses.

His eyes moved down to the two kings he had sitting in his hand. He rolled his tongue over his teeth and picked up a card from the deck, discarded it and then looked up at Emily as she took a card from the deck. She seemed to be debating which card to discard, and then she laid down her cards, discarding the ten she had picked up a moment ago.

"Gin," she smiled smugly, leaning back in her seat.

Michael blinked and tossed his hand onto the table in annoyance. She hadn't been going for tens at all.

* * *

Alice looked up from her book when someone knocked on the cover. She smiled at Nick and he sat beside her. He kissed her cheek.

"Need a ride?"

She shook her head. "My dad's picking me up."

"You wanna go out tonight? We could go to the park? Or have a movie night or something?" he suggested, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger.

"I can't; I'm meeting my dad's girlfriend tonight." She said, putting her book into her bag.

"Oh come on, you can meet her another time. Wouldn't you rather be with me?" he smirked, pulling her back into his chest.

"I have to meet her." she blushed. "And I want to meet her. She and my dad might get married—"

"Step-mothers are evil." He scoffed with a wave of his hand. "Come over to my place. My dad's out of town and my brother's back at my mum's."

"Nick, I—"

"Babe, come on, I love you—"

"There's my dad, I'll see you later." She jumped out of his hold and jogged to the street where the family's minibus sat, waiting.

* * *

Louisa swished her long skirt around her ankles and smiled.

"Hey, you did great last act!" Fiona grinned, pushing her puffy sleeve back up her shoulder.

"Thanks,"

"Pst,"

Fiona and Louisa looked at each other in confusion.

"Did someone just 'pst' us?" Louisa asked, looking around.

"Guys," Danni hissed from a rack of clothes that was pushed up against the wall. She poked her head through the costumes, a blonde wig on her head. "Have you seen Eric today?"

"No, why," Fiona asked, pulling her out of the clothes. "You're going to mess up your make-up."

Danni batted her hands away from her face as she fussed and huffed. "I don't know how you guys do this. But Eric has been following me all day. Earlier, he sent me notes in history, trying to convince me that I like him. He's so arrogant."

"Oh my, gosh," Louisa realized.

"He likes _you_!" Fiona exclaimed.

"Why?" Danni made a face and then shook her head. "Let's talk about something else. This is taking an ugly turn."

"Hello, ladies," Eric smirked, appearing behind Louisa, his eyes landing on Danni first.

"Speaking of ugly." She said with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey, guys," Leo grinned, running up to them. "Wanna see a magic trick I just perfected?" he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Fiona. "Please, sign your name here." He turned around and let her use his back as a table. She handed it to him and he folded it up. He stared at the paper and then threw it into the air. It burst into flames and fell, onto Eric's costume sleeve.

He shrieked, running away from the group, calling for help. Danni burst out laughing and Louisa and Fiona joined in.

"That wasn't supposed to happen." Leo pouted.

"Thanks for saving us, dude." Danni laughed, punching his shoulder.

* * *

"Ready, set, go," Michael said and they both jumped into action. They began shifting their cards around and shuffling through their draw deck. He put an ace of hearts into the middle of the table and Emily put a two of hearts on top of it, followed by a three of hearts from her Nutsy pile. Michael gritted his teeth when he noticed his three of hearts also sitting on the top of his Nutsy pile.

Emily moved a row of cards to an empty spot and put a black king into the empty space it had left after moving the seven that had been beneath the pile to a new place. She put a new ace down, and then focused her attention on her Nutsy pile while going through her hand of extra cards.

She rolled her eyes, scolding herself for not noticing the black eight. She moved it onto a red nine and slapped another Nutsy card down. She moved onto the Nutsy card that was next, her eyes flitting to Michael's lay out quickly. He wasn't paying attention to his Nutsy pile. She placed an ace into the middle of the pile and then smacked a five onto the pile of spades as Michael moved to do so as well.

"Watch it! You nearly took my arm off. Jeez, woman…" he growled, whipping his hand back.

She ignored him, moving the next Nutsy card. "Ooh," she grinned as she neared the last card of the pile. "Here we go!" she slapped the last card on to the table and lifted her hands in victory. "Nutsy!"

"How do you do that?" he groaned, gripping the ends of his hair in frustration.

"Practice," she smirked.

* * *

"Hey, Josh," Fiona called, jogging up to him. She held out a bag of red grapes and he shook his head, hiding his annoyance. "What are you doing?"

"Going home," he mumbled.

"Why didn't you have your dad pick you up like Louisa did?" she asked, popping a grape into her mouth.

"I like walking."

"Oh my, gosh, me too!" she laughed and put her hand on his arm. His gaze flitted to it and then up to her. "So what are you doing later?"

"I'm meeting my dad's girlfriend."

"Excited?" she asked.

Josh stopped and stepped in front of her. He jerked his head toward his house. "Bye."

She watched him walk away and then waved. "I'll see you later, Josh!"

"Whatever," he mumbled stepping inside. He jumped when Gracie ran toward the door.

When she saw it was him, her face fell but then she grinned. "Is she here yet?"

"No." he said simply.

"Aw," she pouted and began pacing.

Jerome walked into the foyer and laughed. "Monkey, sweetheart, you're going to wear a hole right through the floor. She'll be hear soon." He picked her up and tickled her sides. "Just be patient." He smiled at Josh. "Hey, bud, how's it going?"

"Fine. I'll be in my room." he sighed, climbing the stairs.

Jerome blew out a slow breath, running a hand through his hair as Gracie raced to the window to watch the road.

* * *

Jerome ran a hand through his hair and straightened his collar. He turned to his kids. "I want everyone on their best behaviors. I want this to work."

"You can count on us, dad." Michael promised.

When the doorbell rang, Jerome let out a calming breath, casting a wary glance back at his children and dragged his fingers through his hair again.

"I've never seen him so nervous before," Louisa whispered as they rushed to the doorway to peek into the foyer.

Jerome licked his lips and opened the door.

"You're not allowed to be nervous, too." Mara said immediately.

He chuckled. "I can't help it." He cupped her chin, guiding her lips to his.

The boys rolled their eyes and the girls smiled at each other excitedly.

Jerome smirked and dipped Mara. She gasped and wrapped her arms around his neck to support herself.

Josh made a disgusted face and Louisa her mouth, letting out a soft giggle.

Jerome broke his kiss with Mara and looked up at them, Mara's head falling back and looking up at them with a blush pooling on her tan cheeks. Jerome arched an eyebrow. "You know I knew you were there right?"

"Of course you did." Alice smiled.

Jerome straightened Mara and put his hand on her lower back, showing her into the dining room. "Alright, honey, you already know Michael and Alice, and these are the twins; Louisa and Josh, and then Matty and Gracie."

"Hi!" Gracie waved enthusiastically. "Do you want to see my new masterpiece?"

Mara barely had a chance to answer before she had grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the kitchen. Jerome followed behind her, muttering, "She's never had a mother to appreciate her art. She's excited."

Mara smiled, crouching beside Gracie as she explained the picture.

Michael came up to his dad. "She's going to get pulled in fifty directions tonight."

"Don't hurt her," he warned playfully.

* * *

**Review?**

**"Take me, this is all that I've got. This is all that I'm not, all that I'll ever be. I got flaws, I got faults. Keep searching for your perfect heart. It doesn't matter who you are, we all have our scars..." -Scars, Allison Iraheta**

**-Rachel**


	20. Chapter 19

**Hey! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Mara, you're still here!" Gracie smiled brightly, running into the kitchen where Mara was cooking breakfast.

"Yeah, how did you sleep, sweetheart?" she asked.

"Good. What are you cooking?"

"Pancakes,"

"Ooh, do they have chocolate chips in them?"

"Of course," Mara laughed and Gracie ran out of the room, looking back as she sat on the floor.

"I'm going to color a picture. Where's daddy?" she asked, pulling a box out from under the sofa. She pulled a sketchpad out of it and dug around in the crayons.

"In his room; he'll be down in a second."

"Hey, dad, where's—" Josh froze in the doorway of the kitchen and blinked. "Oh. Hi, Mara."

"Morning, Josh," she smiled.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"She spent the night. It's great, right?" Gracie grinned.

"Yeah," he mumbled, turning to leave.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Josh?" Mara asked.

He looked back at her and shook his head silently before he left.

"Morning, Josh," Alice smiled, walking past him and into the kitchen. "Mara, oh my, gosh, I'm so glad you're here. I couldn't talk to you last night with all the chaos."

"What's up?"

Alice leaned her elbows against the kitchen and took a deep breath. "Well, I have a boyfriend, right? And…I've known him for a few days. I've been dating him for a few days. He's really nice, but—" she huffed, running her fingers through her hair and Mara smiled sympathetically. "Is it normal to fall in love with someone in only a couple of days?"

Mara took a deep breath. "Well, I know that when you're a teenager, you tend to throw the word around. Trust me, I did that, too. I can't really tell you if he really loves you though. That's a question for him, sweetie. Do you think you love him?"

"I don't know. He's my first boyfriend."

"Take it slow; you'll know when it happens."

"When what happens," Jerome questioned.

"Nothing, daddy," Alice smiled.

He hummed disbelievingly and kissed Mara quickly. "Good morning, my love."

"Morning," she smiled and slapped his hand when he reached over her to take a chocolate chip from the bag. She gasped when he smacked her butt. She sent him a glare and Alice bit her lip.

"What," he laughed, "It was a reflex."

"Now," Alice started once her father had left the room and Mara looked at her. "If you two got married, I swear, I wouldn't have a single problem with it; you'd just be a married couple, rather than acting like a married couple."

* * *

Jerome stood up and placed his cleared plate on the kitchen counter. "Thank you, darling, it was delicious." He motioned to his tie and he slid his blazer on while she tied it for him. He kissed her, and he ruffled Matty's hair. "I'll see you guys later; I have to take care of some things down at the office."

"You have to work today?" Louisa asked sadly.

"Only for an hour or two," he assured her and winked. "Love you, guys."

"Mara, are we going to do anything with you today?" Louisa asked.

"What would you all like to do?" she asked.

"Can we g-go to the p-park?" Matty said quietly, looking up at her shyly.

"And take a picnic!" Gracie added.

"Dad will be back by then, right?" Alice piped in.

"I think a picnic is doable." Mara smiled, walking out of the room.

"When did she become our mother?" Josh grumbled, poking his uneaten pancakes.

His siblings stared at him.

"Dude," Michael scoffed. "This is the best thing ever. We finally have a mum and you're going to start complaining?"

"You're such a hater, Josh." Louisa frowned.

Josh rolled his eyes and got out of his chair angrily, leaving the room and jogging up the stairs.

When his bedroom door slammed, Alice sighed. "He can't be missing Kathrin. Can he?"

* * *

Joy breathed out slowly, pulling the comforter up over her shoulders as she lay in bed. She felt the bed dip under Fabian's weight when he crawled up next to her and kissed her cheek.

"Wake up, love." He whispered.

She groaned, tugging the comforter over her head. He pulled it down and slipped under it, wrapping his arm around her waist. She sighed, "You seriously want to have another baby?"

"Was that why you were so restless last night?" he spoke into her hair.

She hesitantly opened her eyes. "I'm surprised it's the man that's bringing it up…."

"Well, Lynn's not a baby anymore. Granted, she acts like one, but that's normal. I think it's a good time to have another baby. Last one, I promise." He chuckled. "Just think about it, alright?"

She nodded and sat up, pulling out of his arms. He got up with her and his head hovered over her shoulder.

"Did you think about it yet?"

She laughed, kissing his cheek.

* * *

Michael dragged his fingers through his blonde hair and shrugged out of his leather jacket as he neared the playground where he had spotted Emily. It had occurred to him that he was going to strike up a conversation with someone that could damage his popular reputation, but at that moment, he could care less. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he found Emily interesting.

When he stopped behind her as she swung slowly on the swing, he heard her mumbling to herself. At first, he thought that she was just talking to herself, which would make her even stranger than she already was, but then he realized that she was singing.

"So we closed our eyes and said goodbye to Gypsy Angel Row. Felt so right. Together we moved like spirits in the night, in the night..." she murmured.

Michael took that moment to sit next to her on the other swing after he tossed his jacket onto the platform that led to the long, plastic slide. Emily jumped and looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Michael, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here with my family. I saw you. Thought I'd say hi." He shrugged, pumping his legs to get a rhythmic swing going.

"Hi," she waved awkwardly.

"How's life?"

She shrugged silently.

Michael arched an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to ask how I've been?"

"Oh, um, how have you been?" she asked in rush.

He smirked. "Eh. I met my dad's girlfriend last night."

"How did that go?"

He sighed. "She's good for him. She makes him smile in a way I've never seen before."

"That's good. Right?"

He laughed. "Yeah, it's a good thing."

A silence fell over them. It wasn't awkward. It wasn't heavy. It was comfortable and calming.

"What was that song you were singing?" Michael asked suddenly.

"The Angel by Bruce Springsteen," she replied, a blush glowing on her cheeks.

He immediately tried to figure out which album that song was on, but he couldn't think of it.

"It's a really old song," Emily laughed.

"Oh," he chuckled. "I've never heard it."

She shrugged. "I don't know a lot of people that listens to anything I listen to. I'm kind of used to it. I listen to bands that no one's listened to in years."

"Like White Lion," he smirked.

"Did you touch my phone?" she demanded.

His eyes widened and his jaw fell open. "Why would I do such a thing?"

"Shut up, you know you did." she scoffed. "When I left the library, I was on my playlist, not the artist list."

"Ah," he nodded in realization. He sheepishly ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I was curious."

"It's okay, just next time, could you ask?" she smiled.

* * *

Jerome groaned, laying his head down on Mara's lap. They were under a large tree in the park while the kids ran around, playing on the playground and throwing balls around. "They wear me out."

Mara laughed lightly, brushing his hair over his forehead.

"So?" he smirked, peering up at her. "How do you like being part of the family?"

She smiled. "I love it more than I thought I would."

"They love you to death."

"I don't think Josh likes me."

"He'll come around." He assured her. "He's always been the more stubborn one of all of them."

"Hmm, like his father," she grinned and pecked his lips.

"Daddy, Mara," Gracie called, running up to them. She plopped down on the blanket next to them. "Can I have a tea party, daddy?"

"Sure, baby," he chuckled.

"And can Mara come? Ally and Louie will be there!" she looked up at Mara with wide, pleading, blue eyes and Mara smiled.

"I'd love to come, sweetheart."

"Yay, it will be the tea party I've always wanted to have with my mummy!" she hugged Mara tightly and then ran off to play with her siblings.

Jerome laughed. "She loves this."

* * *

**Review?**

**"You light me up when all I see is darkness. You light me up when I'm down. And if I fall apart, you know where to find my pieces when they can't be found." -Light Me Up, Birdy **

**-Rachel**


	21. Chapter 20

**Hey!**

**So like _everyone _wants Lou and Josh to have a conversation. Well...not yet! I have the next twenty chapters mapped out, so that isn't going to happen for a while...sorry! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Leo scratched the back of his head. "I don't understand. What's so bad about her? I've met her. She's my mum's best friend. I mean," he shrugged. "Auntie Mara's really nice."

"She's just annoying. Why is she happy being around us? And she comes over for dinner last night and suddenly she's a part of the family? Why does dad even like her? God, I hate her." Josh mumbled, staring up at his ceiling. "She's gotta be faking this. But dad doesn't have _that_ much money…"

"Dude, she couldn't be after your dad for money." Leo shook his head with a chuckle.

"How would you know?" he snapped.

He looked up at him in shock and then swallowed, standing up. "Sorry, mate, I think I should go. Maybe you should talk to your dad about this or something."

"Leo, wait," Josh sighed, but he was already gone.

* * *

Louisa skipped into the kitchen and grabbed her father's arm. "Daddy, guess what!"

"What?" he chuckled.

"My play opens Saturday! Only a few more days! I'm so excited!" she squealed. "Will you come?"

"Of course, I will. Everyone will be there. I'll make sure of it."

"Everyone in drama is so nice. Fiona and Danni are there so they're already good friends. And then there's Amy and Quinn and Ben and Taylor. They're all so supportive and talented."

"Good," Jerome smiled. "How much are the tickets?"

"Five for children eight and under; and thirteen for children over nine, and adults," Louisa replied, pressing her lips together.

"Jeez, that's a lot of cash." he breathed.

"Sorry, daddy," she giggled.

* * *

Amber scooped a spoonful of chocolate ice cream into her mouth and looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Alfie, if the baby's a boy, what would you name him?"

"Um, Rusty,"

Amber made a face at her ice cream. "I think it should be…Theodore."

Alfie's head shot up.

"If it was a girl?"

He blinked. "Kassidy."

"I like Rose."

"Kassidy."

"Rose, Boo."

"Kassidy, Ambs."

"Rose Kassidy, then," she shrugged.

"Kassidy Rose—"

"Alfie," she huffed.

"Amber," he mimicked her.

His wife took a deep breath and spooned another bite of ice cream into her mouth. "Fine, Kassidy Rose."

"No, Ambs, Rose Kassidy is fine." He assured her.

"Alfie," she snapped and he looked at her wide-eyed. She smiled. "I like Kassidy Rose better."

* * *

Gracie smiled at her sisters and stood up on the chair at the dining room table. "Good morning, everyone, and welcome to my mother and daughters' tea party," she hopped off the chair and landed on the floor, her black tap shoes smacking the hardwood. She straightened her tiara and picked up the tea pot, which had belonged to Jerome's grandmother, and Jerome had been generous, allowing her to use it for such a special occasion. She carefully cradled it and stepped up to Mara's chair. "Would you care for tea, Miss Jaffray?"

"Yes, thank you, Miss Clarke," the woman smiled and held her tea cup out so Gracie could pour it, almost expertly.

Gracie carefully walked around the table to where Louisa and Alice sat. "Would you care for tea, Miss Clarke?"

Louisa held her up out. "Yes, please, thank you, Miss Clarke."

Gracie turned to Alice. "Would you care for tea, Miss Clarke?" And Alice accepted gratefully.

Once Gracie was seated and they had dished themselves small sandwiches, Louisa spoke up, "Gracie, where did you learn how to serve tea?"

"_Felicity_, the _American Girl Doll_ movie," she blinked.

* * *

"Leo," Josh called, walking into the Lewis' backyard.

Leo looked up from where he sat on the tire swing. "Hi, Josh."

"Look, I…I'm sorry that I snapped." He ground out and Leo laughed, cutting him off.

"You're not good at apologies, are you?" Leo shook his head in amusement and hopped off the tire. "Don't worry about it mate. I keep forgetting that you're different from my other friends. I have to get used to being friends with a Clarke. That's what my dad said. It's hard."

"Yeah, because no one can put up with us for that long," Josh mumbled.

"No, I'll put up with you forever dude. You're my best mate."

Josh stared at him and a smirked pulled at the corner of his lips. "I still think you're annoying."

* * *

"Well, this was your most elegant tea party, Gracie. Thank you for inviting all of us." Alice smiled.

"I wanted to make it perfect for Mara."

"Aw, thank you, sweetheart." She smiled, standing so she could peck Gracie's cheek.

"I'm not interrupting am I?" Jerome asked, entering the room from the kitchen. He grabbed a green apple from the bowl that had been pushed to the end of the table and took a bite.

"No, we're done, daddy," Gracie smiled.

"Did you have fun?"

She nodded immediately.

"Good," he ruffled her hair and walked over to Mara, giving her a once over, eyeing her crimson dress.

"What? Don't you like it?" she asked.

"I haven't seen you in red since we were seventeen…." He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her. "Beautiful."

"Hush," she scolded bashfully.

* * *

"Okay, kiddies, and Mara," Jerome winked, standing at the head of the table. "Announcement—"

"We're meeting another girlfriend?" Josh asked boredly.

Jerome chose to ignore him. "Louisa's play at school, _Beauty and the Beast_, will be opening Saturday night. So if anyone has plans, cancel them, because we're all going." His eyes flitted to Josh briefly. "All of us."

"Mara you are coming, right?" Louisa asked hopefully.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," she promised.

"And Auntie Poppy, Uncle Gabe and your cousins will be coming over as well." Jerome added.

"Really?" Gracie squealed.

And her siblings echoed her excitement with their own exclamations.

"Does everyone understand that from seven to nine, you will be with us?"

"Yes, sir," they nodded.

* * *

Mara attempted to wiggle out of Jerome's arms but he just squeezed her tighter and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"Don't leave," he mumbled.

"J, I have school tomorrow. I have to go home." She laughed, turned and pecked his lips.

He sighed sadly and hung his head.

"I'll see you tomorrow," she promised, lifting his face and kissing him again before heading out the door.

"You know, one of these days," he called after her as she made her way down the walkway, and she turned to him, "You'll leave here in the morning and come back in the afternoon. This is where you belong."

"Be patient, J." she blew him a kiss and continued on her way.

* * *

**Review?**

**So...who wants to go to a BVB concert on 12/9 in St. Louis with me?! No one? Alright...**

**"And if forever never comes then I- And if forever never comes then I- And if forever never comes then I- I'll hold on and hold on. Now you know why I'm lost without you and there's nothing I can do. You're the one I can't go without. If I ain't holding on to you then I'll be holding out forever. I've got you now and I'm not letting go of you. Never be together long enough 'cause every moment I'm with you it's like I'm holding on to heaven." -Holding On To Heaven, Nickelback**

**-Rachel**


	22. Chapter 21

**So...this, I think, is the last pre-written chapter I have for this story. I'll try to write a bunch today. But a bit of a heads up: This week is not a good week for writing (especially since I'll probably be gone at least a whole three days due to my fathers "Father's Day Weekend" like that exists *rolls eyes*), so I don't know if I'll be updating so frequently. I'll try and pre-write more albums. But in case I just stop for a while, now you know why.**

**Also...thank you guys! This story is almost to a 100 reviews and we're only on the 22 chapter! That's amazing! :') If only that could happen on other stories... *hint hint* No I'm kidding. ;P**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"You know, and she's just so…so…"

"Annoying?" Josh suggested, opening his locker.

Leo shook his head. "No, beautiful! I'm going to marry her. I swear it."

"Dude, you do realize that we're thirteen, right? Getting married is like ten years away!"

"But I can _feel_ it! We belong together. The princess and the frog—it's a story right out of a fairytale book!"

"Whatever you say, mate," Josh sighed, brushing his fringe over his forehead, slamming his locker shut. "Just…know that I won't be there when you realize it won't work."

Leo scoffed and punched his friends shoulder playfully. "Of course you'd be there for me."

Josh rolled his eyes, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

"So, who do you like?

Josh nearly tripped over his feet. That felt like a weird question. When he thought about it, he didn't really find any of the girls in the school _attractive_. Then again, like he had said, he was only thirteen. He had the next ten years ahead of him to find a girl attractive. He wasn't still going through the 'cooties' phase but the girls at the school just seemed so…dull.

But then the bell rang and they had to go their separate ways, saving Josh from answering the question.

* * *

Matty looked up from the sand he was sitting on when Arthur ran up to him and Lynn.

"Matty," he huffed. "Gracie's in the playhouse; she said she feels weird."

"I'll b-be right back." he told Lynn and ran off in the direction of the playhouse. He ducked under the small doorway and saw Gracie sitting in the corner, holding her stomach.

"Matty," she whispered, her eyes tearing up. "I don't feel good."

"Hold on, sis, I'll g-go tell your teacher." He said and with a quick glance back at her, he ran toward his sister's teacher. "Miss, my sister d-doesn't feel g-g-good."

She stood up and followed him to the playhouse. She put a hand to her forehead. "Oh dear, let's call your father." She sighed, picking her up. She set her on the bench in the shade of the school building and Matty sat next to her. He hugged her as the teacher ran into the school.

"You're g-going to b-be okay, Gracie."

"Thanks, Matty," she mumbled.

* * *

Jerome closed the minibus door and jogged up to the school doors. He hurried to the head teacher's office and the secretary let him in. Gracie sat in one of the chairs, resting her head on Matty's arm as he stood beside the chair.

"Gracie, d-daddy's here," Matty whispered and Gracie raised her head, holding out her arms.

"Hey, honey, don't worry, I'm here." He said, lifting her up and she wrapped her arms and legs around him. He kissed her forehead and ran his fingers through her slightly damp bangs.

"Matty, you can go back to your class now." The head teacher said and Matty nodded, hugging his father's leg.

"Thanks for taking care of your sister, kiddo." Jerome said and ruffled his curls.

"I hope you feel b-better, G-Gracie." He stuttered as he left the room.

"I'm sorry we had to pull you out of work, Dr." the principal said.

"No, it's fine, thank you. Monkey, you want to go home." She nodded, letting her head fall onto his shoulder. He picked up her backpack and jacket and with a goodbye to the principal, he left the room.

* * *

Michael furrowed his eyebrows and looked up from the text book, turning and peering over at Emily as she sat in front of the window that looked down at the school yard. She was mumbling to herself. He was about to ask her if she was okay, until he heard what she was saying.

"…and there he goes, in the opposite direction. Obviously he's a rogue ninja, or else he would be following that one. That guy looks like a total leader. All of them are following him. Oh and that one looks like he's about to take out that rabbit. Man, squirrels are total ninjas. Go, squirrel ninja, go!" she hissed. "Ha! He totally just threw an acorn at that rabbit! Acorns are squirrel's ninja stars—"

"Uh, Emily," Michael spoke.

She stiffened when he called for her attention and turned to him with burning cheeks. "Yeah?"

"What are you doing?"

"I was just...um, watching the squirrels…" she replied, pointing at the window.

"And narrating what they were doing. As if they were ninjas?" he finished, amusement glinting in his blue eyes.

"Um, yeah," she mumbled, looking at her hands as they shook slightly in her lap.

"You're weird." He stated with a shake of his head.

"I know." She said softly as he turned away.

* * *

Justin stopped suddenly when someone nearly ran into him in the school hallway. "Well if it isn't the Brat. Haven't seen you much," he commented with a smirk.

"It's not like I want to see you, you know, Slacker." Alice retorted.

"I'm sure you can't resist me."

"I've got a boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend's a douche." He snorted, running his fingers through his hair.

"And you're girlfriend's a—oh, you don't have a girlfriend, sorry." she shrugged, brushing past him.

"As always, a displeasure seeing you, Clarke," Justin said as they continued their separate ways.

* * *

"I thought maybe you could come over to my place." Yvette whispered into his ear as they sat on the playground.

Michael wasn't exactly listening to what she was saying. He was staring at the swings, which had reminded him of talking to Emily. She was so easy to talk to. And by talk, Michael actually meant _talk_. Unlike Yvette who just craved—

When her hand ran up his thigh, he jerked out of his thoughts and acknowledged her lips on his neck.

"My dad's out. My sister's home, but I'm sure she won't mind if you come over…"

Michael tuned her out again. He couldn't understand himself. There was a hot, willing (a little too willing in his opinion) girl _on top_ of him and he was thinking of Four-Eyes Finley. He shook his head and pulled Yvette's face to his, trying lose himself in the kiss. He tried to forget about Emily. He tried to forget everything. But everything was still there. Emily was still on his mind; he was still on a children's playground. And while Yvette seemed so into the kiss, Michael couldn't make himself want more. He felt a little disgusted by her at that moment. She threw herself at him. He saw her throw herself at his own father, and a couple other older guys when they were walking down the street.

When she pushed him down onto the metal platform and attacked his neck again, he let her. He was still thinking.

What made Emily so important? Why was she invading his thoughts and appearing in dreams? Why couldn't she just leave him alone and let him kiss his girlfriend? But no, Emily won't have that. She needs his attention. She needs to be noticed.

Or maybe he's just going crazy.

He sighed and pushed himself into a sitting position, Yvette positioned in his lap. "Yvette, get off me." he ordered.

She pulled back with a devilish grin. "Ready to go back to my place, then?"

"No, I'm gonna go home." He replied, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"What?"

"I've got a lot of things on my mind. I can't concentrate." He explained and walked away.

* * *

**Review? **

**So yeah, the weird thing that Emily did? I do that. I narrate what squirrels do as if they're ninja because I'm a freak and I believe that squirrels will take over the world. :/ SQUIRRELPOCALYPSE! **

**"We are, we are the children of the night. And we are rising from the gave to haunt you in your sleep and drink you from your neck." We Only Come Out at Night, Motionless In White**

**-Rachel**


	23. Chapter 22

**Hey! **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Alice smiled at Jenna when the dark-skinned girl linked their arms and led her outside the school.

"Alright," Jenna began. "We can go to the mall, coffee shop, park…where should we go? What about my house? We can watch a movie or—ooh, we can talk about your boyfriend—"

"Jen, you and I were going to hang out today." Justin said, stopping in front of them.

"No we weren't you're just saying that to be mean." Jenna glowered and she and Alice brushed past him.

"I am not," he retorted, "We were going to have a Star Wars marathon and make brownies. Dude, we've been planning this for three weeks."

Jenna's brown eyes widened and she whipped around. "Oh my, god, you're right! I'm sorry! Oh shoot…"

"It's alright, Jenna, we'll hang out some other time." Alice assured her.

"No, why don't you come over! We can all be friends for one night, right?"

Justin and Alice met each other's eyes. "Right." they said together.

* * *

"Hey, what are you doing alone?" Josh asked Danni, stopping at the corner of the street, waiting for the light to change.

"Fiona's planning her birthday party, Louisa's with her; Leo's doing something with his dad…" she shrugged. "And you're not exactly the 'hanging out' type. But then again, neither am I."

Josh chuckled, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Where are you headed?"

"That candy shop over there. It's got an awesome _Pucker Powder_ stand." She smirked.

"They've got a _Pucker Powder_ stand here? I haven't had any of that since I lived in America." He said with wide eyes, following her across the street.

"You can handle the power of a whole tube of _Pucker Powder_?" she asked disbelievingly.

He scoffed. "With every flavor."

Danni gave him a once over and then smirked again, "Race ya."

And they took off toward the shop.

* * *

Jerome handed Gracie a cup of orange juice and sat on the coffee table. "You alright, baby?"

She nodded silently, sipping from the straw.

"Slow down, Monkey, you'll make yourself sick again." he warned, taking the cup from her. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"_Mary Poppins_?" she requested and he nodded once, getting up to put it in.

"Hey, anyone home?" Mara called, walking in through the front door.

"Mara," Gracie answered, turning on the couch.

"Hey, what are you doing home?" she asked putting her bag down on one of the armchairs.

"I'm sick."

"Aw, poor baby," Mara knelt beside the sofa and kissed her forehead.

"I had to pick her up from school; she was feeling queasy." Jerome explained, playing the movie.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Gracie nodded. "You're a doctor, right? Can't you make me better?"

Mara chuckled. "There's not much I can do for a cold, sweetheart. All you have to do is rest and drink plenty of water and juice, okay?"

"Okay," she sighed and lay down again, turning her attention to the movie. Mara stood up and rounded the sofa. Jerome wrapped his arm around her waist and led her into the kitchen.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, backing her into the counter. "How was work?" he murmured against her skin.

"Fine, Michael's doing better." She replied.

"Good," he undid the first button of her blouse and kissed her collar bone. "Man, we need to be alone."

* * *

Michael walked up to the table in the back of the library, about to open his mouth and greet Emily and apologize for being late when he saw that she was reading. He remained silent and peeked over her shoulder. Due to its tendency to swallow virtually anything it encounters, including inedible manmade objects that linger in its stomach, the tiger shark has been nicknamed "the garbage can of the sea"…

"What's your favorite kind of shark?" he asked and she jumped, the book falling out of her hands and onto the floor. "Sorry," he smirked, picking it up and handing it back to her. He sat in his seat across from her and arched an eyebrow, waiting for her reply.

"Um, I-I don't really know. I love sharks. They're all so different—how can I pick a favorite?"

"Do you have a favorite animal?" he asked.

"Yeah…"

"Well, all animals are different, so how come you can pick a favorite animal, but you can't pick a favorite shark?"

Her eyes darted around the small space between the two bookshelves and she pushed her glasses up her nose. "I-I guess I never really thought about it. Maybe…the Megamouth shark; that one's really cool. There's not much information on it because its sightings are very few and chances of it being caught for observation is even fewer. Either that one or…the angel shark, which resembles a ray—you know, a lot of people, when they think of sharks, they imagine these horrible creatures that kill and eat fish and whales and people. People kill sharks too, you know! Like, for shark fin soup! Can you believe that? And sharks can be eaten by whales; killer whales. It happens all the time. But sharks are some of the most fascinating creatures in the ocean—there are so many things we don't know about them, and there's probably a ton of species we don't even know about yet. The mysteries the world holds for us." she looked off in the distance.

Michael arched an eyebrow and waited for her to look at him, but she seemed to have gone off into her own world. He reached across the table and waved a hand in front of her eyes. She blinked and looked at him, her cheeks coloring brightly.

"Sorry…"

"You kind of zoned out…"

"Right, let's get started, shall we?" she mumbled, pushing her book of sharks away from her and opening the chemistry text book.

* * *

Louisa scratched her eyebrow, watching Fiona flip through a fashion magazine. "So…you're going all out on a fifteenth birthday just to ask my brother out?"

"No, I'm having a big party because I want to—I'm getting the perfect dress to ask your brother out. What do you think of this one?" she asked, holding the magazine up.

Louisa's blue eyes flitted between the yellow dress and Fiona. "Josh hates yellow."

"What's his favorite color?"

Louisa blinked. "Um…" she swallowed, straining her brain to remember. "I…I don't know."

"Hmm, maybe Leo would know…" she mumbled, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. She then resumed flipping through the magazine and marking the clothes and shoes she thought was appropriate for her birthday.

"Fiona," Louisa began hesitantly and the brunette hummed in response. "Do you even know if Josh likes you? I mean, did he show any interest? He's never shown any interest in any girls in the past. He's always been a bit of a…um, shy guy. Loner, you know—"

"Exactly, he's shy, so he doesn't show that he likes me. It makes total sense." She bit her lip in excitement.

Louisa's eyebrows furrowed. "Um, I guess…"

* * *

**Review?**

**So...this story...could quite possibly go on for more than...sixty chapters. I have the next 20 chapters planned, which will make it to 42- and even then the Clarke family story won't be finished! So,**

**Questions: This story could go on forever, should I make this the entire story, no matter how many chapters it has? Or should I make it a series? **

**I guess it'd be something about every year of their lives or something? Anyway...yeah.**

**"One final fight for this tonight. Whoa-oh-oh... With knives and pens, we made our plight. Whoa-oh-oh... And I can't go on without your love. You lost, you never held on. We tried our best, turn out the lights, turn out the lights." -Knives and Pens, Black Veil Brides**

**-Rachel**


	24. Chapter 23

**Hey! So I won't be here the rest of the day or tomorrow so ya...I won't be writing.**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Justin ran a hand through his blonde hair and closed his locker door. He adjusted his bag on his shoulder and rounded the corner, heading for his next class, but someone grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him around. He came face to face with Nick Oliver. He blinked down at him and pulled his hand away from his collar. He straightened his shirt and Nick glowered at him.

"You're Justin Miller, right?"

"Yeah," he said warily.

"Stay away from my girlfriend, would you? She's mine."

Justin laughed loudly. "You think I want Alice Clarke? She's such a brat. Dude, you don't have to be so paranoid—" he moved to brush past the jock, but Nick grabbed his shoulder.

"I'm not paranoid. Guys pick on girls when they like them. It's obvious you like her."

"But I don't. She's just annoying. Leave me alone, man."

"Stay away from her, Miller, or you will regret it." Nick warned as Justin stalked down the hall.

* * *

Amber brushed a strand of her blonde hair away from her face, sitting back on the patio chair. "I think you and Jerome being together again is such a good thing. Those kids need a mother like you. Do they like you?"

Mara nodded, sipping her iced tea. "All except Josh, I think. Jerome said he was the most stubborn of the kids."

Amber hummed softly. "Leo said that he's a bit hard to get along with."

"I think he's just trying to find his place in the world." Mara sighed, looking off to the distance as she sat back in the chair.

"Has he asked you to marry him yet?"

"Wha—" Mara laughed. "Amber, even if he did, you know he wouldn't let you plan the wedding."

"It doesn't hurt to hope." She shrugged.

* * *

Eddie sat beside Patricia, facing the TV, and arched an eyebrow. "How can you avoid your own husband for an entire five days?"

"I haven't been avoiding you." She scoffed, changing the channel.

"Okay, you haven't talked to me in five days."

"I've not talked to you for longer periods of time." She shrugged with a smirk.

Eddie sighed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He picked up her hand and placed it on his thigh. He frowned when she removed her hand from his leg. "So what's going on?"

"I don't know what you mean."

He blinked. "Do you love me?"

Patricia rolled her eyes and stood up, smacking him upside the head. "Love you, Weasel Face."

* * *

"Why don't we play 20 questions?" Michael suggested, kicking his legs up onto the table. Emily pulled her hair out of the bun she had it tied up in and nodded in consent. "Let's start simple; what's your favorite color?"

"Sapphire," she replied quietly, brushing her light brown hair over her right shoulder. "What's your favorite color?"

Michael rolled his eyes. "Emerald,"

She laughed lightly at his reply. "That's the most unique answer I think any guy could ever give to that question." She separated her hair into three strands and proceeded to loop them around each other, creating a quick, messy side braid.

"What's your favorite insect?" he asked.

"The roly-poly," she blushed.

"You know it's called a pill bug, right?"

"Yeah, but roly-poly is just so much more fun." She defended herself. "What's your favorite band?"

He blew out a slow breath, looking at the ceiling. "Nirvana," he replied and looked back down at her as a smiled pulled at her lips. "What's your favorite animal?"

"The crocodile," she answered easily.

"Why?"

"It's not your turn to ask a question, Clarke." she scolded.

He raised his hands in surrender with a chuckle. "Sorry, Finley, I was just curious."

"What's your favorite fruit?"

"Red apple," he answered.

"Does it have to be red?"

"It's not your turn to ask a question, Finley." He quoted her teasingly and she groaned softly, rolling her green eyes. "What's your dream job?"

"I want to be a zoologist." She responded, pushing a stray strand of her hair out of her eyes. "Party or picnic?"

Michael arched an eyebrow, thinking silently. He looked at her. "Picnic,"

She nodded in understanding.

He chuckled. "_The Notebook_ or _Dear John_?"

She laughed, covering her mouth. "Neither. I hate chick-flicks."

He opened his mouth, about to ask another question but she shook her head slowly and he motioned for her to continue.

"Day or night," she smiled.

"Night,"

"What's your favorite flower?"

"Chrysanthemum,"

Michael stopped for a second and looked up, as if trying to remember what the flower looked like. "Huh," he hummed, arching an eyebrow.

"Do you have any siblings?" she asked.

He held his hand, his fingers spread with an amused smirk as her eyes widened. "All younger than me, three girls and two boys, different ages…"

"Wow,"

"What number are we on?" he chuckled, scratching the back of his neck.

"Six or seven," she shrugged.

"Why the croc?" he asked.

She sat back in her seat, pulling her feet up onto the chair and her knees to her chest. "They're some of the most powerful animals in the world, but they're so gentle at the same time. Did you know that they can leap up to eight feet to catch their prey? And they protect their young while they're waiting for the eggs to hatch, and when they're growing up, they teach them how to hunt and everything? Sometimes, people overlook some animals because they look intimidating, and only like the cute, fluffy ones. Crocodiles are amazing." She said, shaking her head in amazement and then looked back at him. "What's your favorite animal?"

"Dolphin," he smirked.

She blinked. "Let me guess, because they have—"

"Sex for fun." He finished for her with a throaty chuckle.

She rolled her eyes, her cheeks tinting pink.

"Do you have any siblings?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

"Yeah, my older brother, Peter; he's in the army, stationed in Iraq right now," she replied. "I haven't seen him in three years. But I'm so proud of him. He was disabled for the first twelve years of his life. The doctors told our parents that he would never be able to walk. And now he's in the army. He's an inspiration to me. What's your favorite movie?"

"Um, The Dark Night,"

"Batman's awesome," she grinned.

"If not chick-flicks, what kind of movie do you prefer?"

"Old horror movies, like Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf Man…" she drifted off with a smile. "Do you like nature?"

He shrugged. "I like walks. I recycle. I guess I like nature."

He grinned when she rolled her eyes in fake annoyance. He scratched his eyebrow. "What's your favorite fish?"

"The Barreleye fish," she answered instantly, and he arched his eyebrow in question. She laughed. "It's a deep sea fish that has a transparent shield over its eyes, which they can shift inside of, from looking up to looking forward. It's really cool. Summer or winter?"

He chuckled. "Winter. I know you like old horror movies, but what's your favorite movie?"

"The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, the Disney version." she blushed. "What's your favorite song?"

"'Devil's Arcade'—Bruce Springsteen, and what about you; what's your favorite song?"

"I can't choose one." She said sheepishly. "I can tell you what song I've had stuck in my head for the past few days though."

"That'll do."

"'Don't You Forget About Me' by Simple Minds." She replied. "Is Alice your sister?"

His head rolled back on his shoulders lazily. "Yes," he ground out and she let out a short laugh. He smirked. "Have you ever been kissed?"

Her eyes widened instantly and her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. "I'd rather not discuss that…"

"Oh, come on, I can already tell—"

"We're wasting time; let's get back to studying."

Michael rolled his blue eyes but let it slide, choosing to leave her alone for once as her cheeks got redder by the second.

* * *

**Review?**

**"We've come a long way, baby. You know, I hope and pray that you believe me, when I say this love will never fade away. Oh, because you are the best thing, you are the best thing..." -You Are the Best Thing, Ray LaMontagne**

**-Rachel**


	25. Chapter 24

**Hey, I'm back! So...I did some writing while I was gone and I'm still in the process of going from writing on paper to typing on a computer, but the next chapter is already completed, I just have to type it up.**

**Also, thank you for getting the story past 100 reviews! That's fantastic! Some of the fastest reviews I've gotten in a long time! :D**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Joy looked up when she heard someone slide across the hardwood floor on sock covered feet. Jamie hugged her mother's arms and looked up at her with wide blue eyes.

"Mummy, why does Fiona have friends and I don't?" she asked.

Joy laughed softly. "What are you talking about? You have friends."

"But not a best friend like Fiona has Danni or a group of friends that like each other. All my friends don't like each other."

"Maybe you'll get a group of friends when you get a little older."

"And a best friend," Jamie asked expectantly.

"Just be patient, love."

* * *

Gracie tiredly flipped through her fairytale book, looking at the pictures and studying the colors and shades.

"Hey, Monkey,"

She looked up at her father.

"Someone's here to see you," he winked and Arthur rushed into the room.

"Arty!" she cried happily.

"Hey, Gracie, are you feeling better."

"A little," she shrugged. "Why are you here?"

"My mummy and your daddy said we can play." He grinned.

"Let's play _Candy Land_," she cheered.

* * *

"All my friends and most of the school are on that trip to London, so we could do tutoring outside. It's a really nice day out. Maybe we could go to the park?" Michael suggested when he reached the table in the back of the library.

Emily looked up and shrugged. "If you want, that's fine. I just thought you didn't want to be seen with me."

"Today can be an exception I guess." He smirked as they walked out of the library. They left the school yard and walked down the street that led to the park. Michael's gaze landed on Emily briefly, just in time to see her scrunch her nose in disgust, casting an irritated glance at the rose bushes that lined the sidewalk to their right. "You alright?" he chuckled.

"I don't like the smell of roses." She said sheepishly.

"You…you don't like the smell of roses." He let out a loud laugh, covering his mouth with his hands, in a way he didn't realize was just like his father. "Why not; you're like the only girl I've ever met than doesn't like the smell of roses."

"I just think the scent is…a little dull and not very pleasant." She mumbled, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Interesting," he chuckled.

"I know it's weird." She sighed.

"Quite," he agreed.

* * *

"Did you have fun with your dad?" Danni asked, stirring her coffee.

Leo nodded. "Were you totally lost without me?"

She laughed. "Oh, yeah, I didn't know what I was going to do with myself." She shook her head. "No, I hung out with Josh."

"Do you think he likes you?"

"Why?" she made a face.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I've been trying to figure him out. I asked him if he liked anyone and he ran away like he didn't want to answer me."

"Maybe he doesn't like anyone," she chuckled.

"Why couldn't he just tell me—?"

"Danielle Miller," a voice cut him off.

Leo's eyes widened as Danni's ears turned red from anger. She turned to Eric and narrowed her eyes.

"What do you want, you little cockroach?"

The brunette feigned hurt, placing a hand over his heart. "I just came to see how you're doing."

"Yeah, sure," she rolled her eyes and focused her on her coffee.

"What are you supposed to be?" he had directed this question toward Leo, whose mouth opened and closed, resembling a goldfish.

Danni stood up long enough to smack Eric upside the head, and then she sat again. "He's Leo, you idiot."

"Leo," he nodded, eyeing the shorter boy. "What, am I interrupting a date or something?"

Leo shook his head silently and Danni scoffed, "No, we're just friends."

"See, I knew you liked me." Eric smirked.

"You're delusional." She moaned.

"You're in denial." He winked. "See you later, Danielle."

"That weasel," she grumbled as he left the coffee shop.

"He's not that bad," Leo chuckled.

"He's so annoying and arrogant and has no respect for girls or personal space," she ranted, running her fingers through her hair, remembering the day she'd first met Eric Stanley.

_Eleven year old Danni glowered at the school as Eddie pulled the car up to the curb. She turned to him with a deep frown. "Dad, can you think about the home schooling thing again? Just a little longer?"_

_Eddie chuckled. "What's so bad about going to public school? You've never had a problem with it before."_

"_I don't like going to new schools." She huffed. "It's hard making friends and the people are always so weird in different places. I'm used to Americans—these are Brits."_

_Eddie smirked in amusement. "Get outta here, small fry."_

_Danni rolled her green eyes and stomped out of the car. She pulled the strap of her bag farther up her shoulder and made her way to the two front doors of the school. _

"_Danni," Fiona exclaimed as she rushed out of the doors. She wrapped her up in a hug as Danni stood stiffly in shock. The shorter brunette pulled back, hands on her shoulders. "We haven't seen each other in forever! We'll have to talk later—I've got a rehearsal to get to!"_

_Danni stared after her with wide eyes before continuing on. She entered the school and ignored the looks she got for being new. And before she realized what was happening, she was laying on her back on the dirt, tiled, school hallway floor, staring up at the ceiling, her nose throbbing from being smacked in the face with a locker door. She heard some of the students laughing, but her attention was trained on the guy that had swung the locker open. He was laughing at her. The tips of her ears burned with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. _

_Danni stood up and brushed off her pants before lashing out, landing a hard punch on his right shoulder. His laughter stopped and she could tell that the punch had hurt when he clenched his fist and crossed his arms defensively._

"_It's not my fault you weren't watching where you were going, you know," he scoffed, his brown hair flopping over his forehead. _

"_You could have a little more respect towards girls and be a gentleman, you know." She retorted, brushing past him._

"_I haven't seen a single girl today," he called after her. _

"_Go look in the mirror," she smirked, pushing the door tot eh head teacher's office open._

Leo watched Danni stare down her coffee, and when she blinked, he sat up straighter, glad that she was back to the present.

* * *

"Oh my, gosh, we keep running into each other," Fiona laughed, linking her arm with Josh's.

"No, more like we're both walking in opposite directions, on opposite sides of the street, and you go out of your way to annoy me because you're weird." He replied, pulling his arm away from hers.

"You and your jokes," she giggled. "You're so funny."

Josh rolled his eyes.

"So what are you up to?" She didn't take his arm again, but she did step closer to him, their arms barely brushing, to which Josh awkwardly moved away from her.

"Just walking," he sighed.

"I was heading to the party store; my birthday is in a few weeks. I understand yours is too?"

"Yeah, so," he asked irritably, and she took no notice to his tone.

"Am I invited to your birthday party?"

Josh glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "If Louisa invites you; I won't."

"Oh please, sure you would," she shoved his shoulder in amusement.

"Listen, Fiona, I kind of just want to be alone. So if you don't mind…" he drifted off.

"Oh, yeah, of course," she winked at him. "Don't have any fun without me."

* * *

**Review?**

**"Just one chance is all it takes. Can't change the past, but I can fight to change today. This is not the way that I thought I would turn out to be. Tragic yet but all that I got was more insanity. Broken everything that I touch just going against me. Got to get away..." -Madness In Me, Skillet **

**-Rachel**


	26. Chapter 25

**HAPPY INTERNATIONAL BVB DAY! **

**That may not mean anything to some (maybe all) of you, but BVB is my favorite band and those five men are my saviors and I love them to no end. :') It's been almost 4 years since the day my ex best friend said to me, "I found this band that had a song talking about killing people with knives and pens." Of course, being the curious person I am, I looked up _Knives and Pens_ by Black Veil Brides and fell in love with the band. **

**_Knives and Pens_ is not about killing people with knives and pens. It's about the two choices that everyone comes to at one point in their life; a fork in the road. They're hurt and in pain and depressed and in need of something to make them feel better. They can either take the light path, or the dark path. The dark path is taking a blade to yourself or doing drugs or burning yourself. While the light path is taking all that pain and angst and turning it into something beautiful, whether you're singing, writing, drawing, or even dancing or sports; it can make you feel better. That's what that song means and it's beautiful. **

**So, I'm listening to each of the BVB albums from start to finish, which means that when I update, all the songs at the end of the chapters will be BVB. ;)**

**I'm so excited for BVB4 which will be coming out in October! I'm so happy! I think I'm going to cry...**

**Anyway, enough of my ranting (go check them out, I suggest starting with the _Knives and Pens_ music video. The link is in my profile.)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Dad," Nathan spoke, peeking over the kitchen counter at the table.

"Yes, Nathan," Fabian murmured in acknowledgement, looking over some papers that held information on a museum he was going to curate for.

"My eye hurts," he said, reaching up to rub his left eye. "And my face feels funny."

"I know," his father sighed sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, Fabian," Mara smiled, following Joy into the kitchen.

"Auntie Mara, my eye still hurts." Nathan whined.

"Mara, are you sure there's no treatment for his palsy?" Joy asked, kissing her son's forehead.

Mara shook her head. "Maybe if we had noticed it a few years ago, but…wait, why don't you take him to see Jerome? Chiropractic treatment might help, or make it bearable."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, remember when he fell down the stairs when he was three? Well, his spine might have shifted out of line, which sometimes causes the spine to pinch the nerves that are connected to his face. I suggest taking all of the kids to him actually."

"Is it that good?" Fabian smiled.

"Have you talked to Eddie recently? He loves it." she laughed.

* * *

Sighing, Michael ran a hand through his hair and stared at the page. His eyebrows furrowed. How did he do that again? He flipped back a few pages, in search of Emily's notes and examples.

"Can't figure it out?" Emily asked, looking up from her homework, pulling out her earbuds.

He scoffed. "How can you work with music playing?"

"It helps me concentrate," she shrugged. "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it."

"Okay, I'm just trying to figure out how to do this thing here. You don't have any creepy doodles in here I have to be worried about, right?"

"Nope," she shook her head and resumed listening to her music.

Michael looked down at the notebook again and flipped back another page. He found what he was looking for, as well as Emily's version of a doodle. He smirked.

_Wanting to be someone else is the waste of the person you are. –Kurt Cobain_

"So, not doodles but quotes?" he asked, looking up at her, but she was busy rocking out to whatever she was listening to.

* * *

"Thanks for letting us stay over, Mr. Clarke," Fiona smiled.

"No problem, just make sure you keep it down and got to sleep early. You don't want to be falling asleep during your play."

As Louisa, led Fiona and Danni up to her room, Jerome sat in one of the arm chairs and began setting up a game of chess. He jumped, nearly knocking the board off the table when Josh rushed into the room.

"Hey, bud, long time, no—"

"Don't finish that sentence. Please." He begged.

"What's wrong?" Jerome laughed.

"What is Fiona Rutter doing here?" he demanded.

"She's Lou's friend. She's in Lou's play." He shrugged.

"Why?"

"What's wrong with Fiona being here?"

"Two minutes ago, I walk out of my room and out of nowhere, she grabs my arm and squeals, 'Josh, long time, no see!'" he rolled his eyes and flicked his fringe across his forehead.

Jerome guffawed, covering his mouth with his hands. "She likes you, what's wrong with that?"

"I don't like her!" he hissed, running a hand over his face. "She's irritating and doesn't know how to take no for an answer. Plus, Leo likes her."

"Oh, she's one of those," Jerome realized, his eyes widening.

"What?"

"Well, she's the type of girl that chases one guy who wants nothing to do with her, while she's completely oblivious to the other guy in the triangle, whom is chasing her." he thought for a moment. "When that happened to me though, I was the guy chasing Mara while she chases the Meathead."

Josh blinked and decided to change the subject. He motioned to the chess board. "Are you talking to your imaginary friends again, dad?"

Jerome sent him a look and shook his head. "Mara's coming over."

"Oh," Josh stuffed his hands into his jean pockets and shuffled out of the room.

Jerome sighed. "Nice talking to you too, buddy."

* * *

"She's staying over again," Josh grumbled in a monotone, shooting several players down on the TV screen.

"Are you talking to yourself again?" Louisa laughed, walking into the room, followed by Danni and Fiona.

He made a face but didn't look away from his game. "What are you doing in my room? I don't go in your room, do I?"

"Right, because I never take your things without permission." His twin retorted, holding up her copy of _20,000 Leagues Under the Sea._

"Oh, right, that book report," he mumbled.

Louisa rolled her eyes and left the room with Danni while Fiona stayed behind.

"Nice room," she commented, "Blue's your favorite color?"

"No," Josh frowned.

"What _is_ your favorite color then?"

"I don't have one."

"Oh come on, everyone has a favorite color." She laughed.

"Transparent," he sighed.

"That's not—"

"That's my favorite color."

"Well, that's not going to work." She said to herself thoughtfully.

"What's not going to work?"

"Nothing," she smiled nervously. "See you later!"

Josh rolled his eyes and slumped in his beanbag chair.

* * *

"Hey, Mara," Louisa smiled, opening the refrigerator door.

"Hey, sweetheart, how are you doing?" Mara replied, blowing on her hot chocolate gently.

"Fine," she tossed Danni a water bottle and Fiona began popping some popcorn.

"What are you guys up to?"

Danni leaned against the counter. "We're going to rehearse lines and things. We need a snack."

"Baby, it's your turn." Jerome called form the living room.

Mara brought him his own hot chocolate and sat across from him, observing his last play.

"I guess as you get older, you stop doing fun things?" Danni asked bluntly.

"We did this in high school—" Jerome scoffed.

"And you haven't gotten any better," Mara laughed, "Check mate."

Jerome's head snapped around and he stared at the board in shock. "How?" he demanded in astonishment.

"Dad, it's just a game," Louisa pointed out.

Jerome looked up at Mara as she hid her smile behind her mug. He grinned. "I'm so in love with you."

"I know," she pressed her lips together and began setting up the board for another game.

"Come on, guys, let's leave these two crazy kids to their chess." Louisa said, leading Danni and Fiona out of the room.

* * *

"I just get this weird vibe from her." Josh shrugged, even though Leo couldn't see him. He cradled his cell phone between his cheek and shoulder as he maneuvered a race car around barrels and crates on the screen.

"That can't be the only reason you don't like her. Did she do something to you? Did she say something to you? Mara has always been nice to me and the others. She's a doctor and she's really pretty—what more could you ask for as you dad's girlfriend?" Leo asked.

Josh sighed tiredly.

"I mean," Leo continued. "She makes you dad happy, so why can't you be happy that he's happy? Or at least put up with it until you get to know her better?"

"I don't want to get to know her better. Out family was fine, and then she just suddenly becomes a part of it? No, it doesn't work like that. The others already treat her like a mother. She's not our mother."

"Can you tell me another reason you don't like her?" Leo asked quietly, and just as he had suspected, Josh was silent, and the silence linger for several minutes.

"No," he finally replied, reassuring Leo that he was still on the other line.

"Because—"

"Not because I have other reasons; because I don't want to tell you the other reasons."

"Even though I'm your best friend," he wondered.

Josh sighed, "Even though you're my best friend."

"Alright, sorry I pushed you, bro."

Josh could hear the grin in his voice through the line. "You're fine, mate, I'll talk to you later."

"Cool, bye," Leo replied happily and hung up.

* * *

**Review?**

**"We are breathing while you're sleeping. Go! And leave us alone. The liars cheating. Our hearts beating. Go! And now you're on your own." -Perfect Weapon, Black Veil Brides**

**-Rachel**


	27. Chapter 26

**Hey!**

**I'd like to thank SibunaGleekR5er for suggesting the idea that will be part of the story's drama for the next few chapters. I tweaked it so it would fit the story, just a heads up. ;)**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

"Daddy, I feel better!" Gracie called, running down the hall. She rushed into the kitchen and smiled up at her father and Mara. "Kiss my forehead!"

Jerome chuckled, kneeling before her and pressing his lips to her forehead as she had requested. "Yep, no fever,"

"So I can go to Louie's play?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes, ma'am," he nodded.

"Yay! Louisa," she called, running out of the room. "I can go to your play!"

Jerome smirked and straightened.

"She's adorable," Mara giggled.

"Who do you think she gets it from?" her boyfriend asked and she turned to give him a look.

"Because I honestly have no idea," he finished seriously.

Mara laughed and Jerome wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her into him.

"Poppy's here," Michael hollered, jogging down the steps, and a second later, the rest of the Clarke children were rushing out of the front door with him.

Jerome sighed. "Poop,"

Mara hit his shoulder playfully and headed for the door.

"Auntie Poppy, I was sick, but now I'm better!" Gracie exclaimed.

"The play is so brilliant; you're going to love it." Louisa grinned.

"Life is so boring without you," Michael said teasingly.

"We need to talk later," Alice pleaded.

"I've b-been p-practicing my r-reading. D-daddy said I'm g-getting a lot better." Matty explained.

"Dad got a girlfriend." Josh said simply, and Poppy held up a hand, letting her nieces and nephews know that she wanted them to be quiet for a moment.

"Are you serious?" she asked wide-eyed.

Josh nodded. He knew that his Aunt was a great judge of character, and if she didn't like someone, no one should. He trusted her judgment, and hoped that Mara wouldn't be difficult for Poppy to decipher.

"Poppy," Mara smiled, jogging down the walkway and Poppy covered her mouth with her hands.

"Mara," she laughed happily. "Oh my, gosh, I can't believe you and Gerbil are back together! This is fantastic! I'm finally going to get a big sister!"

As she and Mara hugged, Jerome walked up behind them. "Kathrin was your sister…"

"I didn't like her." Poppy said in disgust and then turned to Mara with a grin. "I want you to meet my husband—babe," she called, turning to the brunette that was helping two year old Noah out of their car, "Come meet Mara Jaffray!"

When he finally made it to the group he set the baby car seat down and the kids immediately swarmed to say hi to four month old Brayden.

"Mara, this is Gabe Lawrence; and this is Mara, my brother's ex-girlfriend from high school and now new girlfriend—don't mess this up, Gerbil." She warned her brother.

Jerome's eyes widened as he lifted his hands in surrender.

Josh watched Poppy happily chat with Mara and frowned. Poppy liked her?

He looked down when someone tugged on his pant leg. Noah stared up at him with wide brown eyes. "Hey, little dude,"

He grinned around his Sippy cup and waved.

"Hey, Josh," Gabe smiled, coming up behind his son.

"Hey, Gabe, how's it going?"

"Alright, how do you like Mara?"

He shrugged silently.

"Takes a while to get used to someone new, I get that. I was wary about my step-mother, too."

"She's not our step-mother."

Gabe chuckled, eyeing Jerome and Mara. "By the looks of it, she could be soon." He observed Josh's tense posture and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "If Poppy likes her, you can be comfortable around her, you know."

"Yeah," Josh grumbled as his uncle walked away.

* * *

Michael held Gracie's hands as she jumped up the steps in front of him while the family made their way to their seats in the school theater.

People buzzed around the large room and the Clarkes took their seats. Poppy and Gabe sat beside them and the Rutters were a few rows down, while the Millers were across the aisle.

"Hey," Alice spoke up, looking around. "Where's Josh?"

Jerome sighed in realization, running his fingers through his hair. "That boy is so grounded."

* * *

Louisa grinned, flicking the ponytail of her brown wig over her shoulder, lifting the skirt of her dress and rushing to her family. "So? How'd you love it?"

"You were magnificent, darling." Jerome congratulated, hugging her.

"B-brilliant, Lou," Matty smiled, holding up a red rose.

"Aw, thank you, Matty," she cooed, taking it from him, ruffling his curls. She hugged Mara and bit her lip. "Did you really like it?"

"You were amazing," Mara gushed.

After hugging the rest of her family members while they complimented her and the play, she looked around in confusion. "Where's Josh?"

They fell silent.

"He's not here, is he?" she asked so quietly that they could barely make out her question over the happy chatter in the room.

"I'm sorry, love." Jerome said, stroking her cheek.

* * *

Josh opened the front door slowly, poking his head into the house. He heard this family talking in the living room and hesitantly crept into the foyer. He knew he was going to get in major trouble for missing Louisa's play.

He stepped into the living room and Michael, Alice and Matty fell silent. Jerome and Gracie watched him as the other three ignored him, looking away. He swallowed.

"Where are Poppy and Gabe?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"The hotel," Gracie said softly, sipping from her cup of chocolate milk.

"Um, how was the play?"

"Joshua Henry, I am so disappointed in you." Jerome said with a shake of his head and Josh felt his chest tighten; he could see it in his eyes—he _was_ disappointed in him.

"I'm sorry—"

"Well tell that to your sister." Jerome snapped. "You hurt her."

"Dad, I—" he tried again as his siblings filed out of the room.

"It doesn't matter what is your relationship status is with her; you're supposed to be there and support her because that's what family does."

Josh looked away, knowing that it was hopeless trying to talk to his father when he was angry.

"She would have been there for you." Jerome said and sighed tiredly. "You know what? I'm not even going to punish you in any way."

"You're not?" Josh asked in shock.

"You're going to punish yourself."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Think about what you did to your sister. Go to your room; I don't want to see you for the rest of the night. We'll talk about it later. Good night."

"Yes, sir," Josh nodded and turned, leaving the room. He climbed the stairs to his bedroom, but as he passed Louisa's, he stopped, pressing his ear to the door.

"I…I just don't understand what I did," Louisa said softly from inside the room.

"Maybe he's just going through a rough time, sweetie." Mara responded and Josh's eyebrows furrowed.

"He just totally shut me out one day and I don't even know why. Who knows what's wrong with him. If he's going through such a rough time, why wouldn't he talk to me about it? I was his best friend. We told each other everything." Louisa ranted, tears in her voice. "And now, he won't even look at me anymore."

Josh backed away from the door. "Yeah, family is a wonderful thing," he said under his breath, storming into his room, but he didn't slam the door.

* * *

**Review?**

**"The tears we've cried, this love has died. You're by yourself with me tonight. It's what we hid with every lie, and stitch these wounds with me tonight." We Stitch These Wounds, Black Veil Brides**

**-Rachel**


	28. Chapter 27

**Hey! Yay, an update! :)**

**(I actually realized a typo a few minutes ago while reading over the Justin/Jenna/Alice friendship moment, or the Alice/Justin moment, which ever you prefer. So I was just fixing that because it's important... :P)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Josh nervously sat in front of his father at the dining room table. Jerome arched an eyebrow.

"Well?" he prompted.

"Um…"

"What did you decide was an appropriate punishment for letting your twin sister down?"

Josh's eyes darted around the room, avoiding his father's gaze completely. He hadn't wanted to think about it all night. He had stayed up, tossing and turning, unable to stop thinking about it. And that was one of the many things he hated about himself. He cared too much.

"I should be grounded for three weeks—no friends, no games, no movies, no phone. I should do the dishes for two weeks and I have to finish a list of ten chores of your choice before Friday."

Jerome watched him in slight surprise. "And…"

"I'll apologize to Louisa." He mumbled.

Jerome sighed. "You'll be grounded for two weeks and you'll do the dishes for three weeks and any chores I want you to do this week will be done before five o'clock of the day you're given them."

"Yes, sir,"

"Where were you?"

Josh stiffened. "I just lost track of time at the coffee shop."

Jerome's gaze hardened a little.

Josh was lying.

"Time for school," Jerome reminded softly and Josh rushed out of the room.

* * *

Justin tapped Jenna on the shoulder, and when she turned to him, he lifted his squirt gun and shot her face. She gasped in shock and glared at him as he ran away laughing.

"You're so going down, Miller!" she hollered.

Justin's amusement was cut short when he felt a hand press against his chest, stopping him from running away from his best friend. He looked down at the hand and then up at the body that was connected to it. He slipped a hand into his pocket while the other held the water gun on his shoulder. "Can I help you?"

"You almost ran into my girl, Miller. Watch it." Nick warned.

Justin's green eyes flitted to Alice as a blushed climbed up her neck to her cheeks, looking away from the boys. "Sorry," Justin smirked, raising his free hand in surrender. "I was just—" his explanation was cut off when he felt water spray into his back. "Hey, no fair, I was taking a break!" he yelled, turning back and spraying Jenna back.

"_Fair_ is not in the water gun fight vocabulary." she reminded, moving to use a garbage can as a shield.

"Yeah, right, what about that time I got you on your birthday?" he chuckled.

Nick blinked, arm around Alice's shoulder as they watched the two shoot water across the sidewalk. "Can we get by?"

"That didn't count, you jerk!" Jenna called to Justin.

"Go ahead," Justin answered Nick, poking his head above the trunk of his dad's car to spray at Jenna again.

"We'll get sprayed," Nick said obviously.

"What? No, really," Justin smirked, shaking his gun. "Shoot, I'm out." He warily rushed to the side of his house and quickly filled up his water gun as Jenna watched him over the lid of the trash can.

Nick sighed tiredly and led Alice across the sidewalk, and then Justin reappeared, spraying water over the car before he realized the Nick and Alice stood there. Alice gasped in surprise and Nick turned to glare at him.

"Dude, what the hell," he growled.

"Oh, sorry," Justin mumbled behind his hand, holding back his laughter.

Jenna pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, but then she cried out in protest when Alice grabbed her water gun and ran around the car, drenching a shocked Justin. This time, Jenna did laugh. Justin ran a hand through his soaked blonde hair and stood up as Alice handed the empty gun back to Jenna.

"So," he started. "I'm guessing you're expecting me not to shoot you back?" He raised his water gun and sprayed Alice with a bored expression.

"Jenna, I need a gun." Alice said tensely.

Justin arched an eyebrow in surprise and Jenna and Alice ran off.

"Babe," Nick called.

"Oh, come on, Oliver, loosen up." Justin grinned, rushing off in the direction of the girls so he could surprise them as they filled several guns.

* * *

Danni stopped in front of Josh, causing him to halt on the sidewalk that led away from the school. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Danni, I'm grounded. No friends." Josh sighed.

"I'm not friends with guys that hurt their sister, you jerk." She snapped, punching his shoulder.

Josh gritted his teeth and held his arm, brushing past her.

"How could you do that to her," Danni demanded, watching him walk away from her. "She was counting on you and you _let her down_."

Her words made Josh stop dead in his tracks. He looked at the sky, breathing out slowly, willing himself not to snap back at her. She didn't understand, and she wouldn't understand.

"Well? What kind of lame excuse do you have?" Danni asked, pulling on the back of his shirt.

He jerked around and slapped her hand away as she stood there in shock, eyes wide. She didn't try to stop him when he stalked away. She held onto the strap of her backpack and bit her lip.

* * *

Jerome arched an eyebrow at Alice as she walked through the front door, her hair wet and her clothes soaked. "Do I want to know?" he asked.

"Do you?" she shrugged.

"Water gun fight?"

"With Justin and Jenna."

"Alright," her father nodded, clapping his hands together. "So do you want to know a secret?"

She looked down at her clothes. "Can it wait?"

"It's really quick. Just four words." He assured her and she chuckled, motioning for him to continue. "I'm going to propose."

Alice gaped in surprise and then grinned, moving to hug him, but he took a step back. "Oh right," she laughed sheepishly. "Daddy, that's fantastic! I'm so happy for you! I can't wait! I'm going to go change so I can give you a hug!"

Jerome chuckled. "Thanks, darling," he said softly as she rushed up the steps.

When the doorbell rang, he straightened his tie and ran a hand through his hair, opening the front door. Danni stood there.

"Hi, Danni, Louisa's out with Fiona." He said.

"I know, I was heading to the coffee shop to meet them but I ran into Josh on the way." she explained, her eyes darting past him into the foyer. "Is Josh here?"

"No."

"Did you know about the huge bruise he has on his side?" she asked, hesitantly.

Jerome blinked. "Bruise?"

She nodded. "On his right side, there's this bruise about the size of a dinner plate. It looks really bad. You didn't know about it?"

"No," he murmured, his mind racing.

"I just wanted to let you know. I may hate him for what he did to Louisa, but he's still my friend." She shrugged.

"Thanks, Danni," he said, and she left to meet with Louisa and Fiona.

Running a hand through his hair, Jerome sat in one of the arm chairs in the living room slowly. He sat silently, watching the front door.

* * *

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**"You'll wake up when I walk out. Isn't that the way it plays? The leaver leaves, the stayer stays. You wouldn't make a move, so I made mine. Isn't it a pity? I wish that you were really in it for life." -In It For Life, Sick Puppies**

**-Rachel**


	29. Chapter 28

**Hey! I think I'm back! ;) I'll be painting again today but the room is almost finished- I'm hoping to just keep writing until I need to paint.**

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* * *

Josh hissed under his breath, poking at yellowing bruise on his rips. He looked at the mirror and frowned, covering his torso with his green shirt. He ran a hand through his dirty-blonde hair and swept his fringe across his forehead. He pushed the bathroom door open and jogged down the stairs, swinging his bag over his shoulder. Before he made it to the front door, he stopped at the sound of his father's voice.

"Josh,"

Sighing inaudibly, he turned around.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush," Jerome informed him, slipping his hands into the front pockets of his pants. "Where'd you get the bruise?"

Josh kept his face straight and shrugged a shoulder, though he instantly regretted it when pain shot through his side, but he didn't show that it hurt. "I got smacked in the side by a football at school. It was an accident."

"Josh…"

"Dad, I'm going to be late. I'll see you later." He mumbled, rushing out the front door.

* * *

Leo scratched the back of his neck. "So you think that Mara somehow tricked your aunt into liking her?"

"It's the only logical explanation." Josh said.

"Dude, even I know that's not logical. Maybe Mara's a really nice person and you just don't want to accept her yet. It's not a bad thing. You can take your time. Just get to know her."

"I told you that I don't want to know her—" his growl was cut off when he ran into someone. He took a step back and looked down at his twin with an audible gulp.

Louisa stared at him for a moment as the awkward silence hung in the air. Leo, Fiona and Danni watched them cautiously. And then Josh broke their eye contact, submitting to her stare, and she brushed past him without a word. Danni sent him a glare that was barely laced with concern as she past him and Fiona smiled quickly.

"You haven't apologized yet?" Leo asked.

"She's been avoiding me."

"Can you tell me why you're avoiding her?"

Josh sighed tiredly.

"I mean, I know you have trouble with saying sorry, but there's more to it, isn't there?"

"You won't be the first person I tell, mate." Josh mumbled, scratching his neck. "Sorry, I forgot that I can't talk to friends. I'll see you later."

Leo watched after him worriedly.

* * *

Alice bit her lip and eyed Nick from her seat. He was two seats to the right, jotting down notes as the teacher listed them. And then he looked up and met her eyes. He smirked and winked at her in a way that she suddenly found obnoxious. He looked back down at his notebook and Alice directed her attention around the room. Michael was three seats behind Nick. He was glaring at the back of her boyfriend's head. Alice didn't blame him.

When the bell rang, the class suddenly sprung to life and the students hurried out of the room. As Alice was packing up her bag, Michael stopped by her.

"I've got tutoring again. Can you get home alright?"

"Actually, I think Nick was going to take me to get ice cream." She replied, strapping her bag across her upper body.

"Well, be careful. Dad hasn't met him. I haven't met him…"

"So you can't trust him."

"Not just yet," he chuckled, giving a strand of her hair a tug. "See you later Goldilocks."

"Mickey Mouse," she smirked teasingly as he left the room.

"Shut up," he called.

Nick arched an eyebrow, watching Michael leave the room. "Who was that?"

"He's my brother." She shrugged.

"I thought your brother was like, ten or something." He mumbled, taking her hand and pulling her out of the room.

"Seven and thirteen," Alice corrected. "I've got three brothers and two sisters."

"Yeah, okay, so you decided to take me up on my ice cream offer?" he smirked, swinging an arm over her shoulders as he pushed the school door open and walked out into the afternoon sun.

"Um, yeah, I guess so."

"Alright, let's go. And then we can head over to my place and watch a movie or something."

"Okay—"

"Crap, I forgot my phone in my locker," he realized, patting his pockets. "I'll meet you there." He pecked her lips. "Love you."

Alice watched him run off with wide eyes. "Bye…"

* * *

Michael huffed in annoyance and pushed his hair out of his eyes again. It had been bugging him all day. He had run out of hair gel and he had only realized it after he took his shower after PE. So his hair had dried and it flopped in a way he wasn't used to. He planted his elbow on the table and rested his forehead on the palm of his hand while his fingers held his bangs out of his eyes.

He dropped his hand to hold the corner of the notebook as he erased something he wrote, and then swept his bangs away from his eyes again. They flopped back down and before he could react, Emily had stood up while dripping some water out of a bottle into her hand. She reached across the table and ran her fingers through his hair, effectively slicking his hair back with the water.

He looked up at her, shocked. And then he masked his expression, replacing it with a questioning gaze as she avoided his eyes and picked up her shark book.

"Your fidgeting was making me nervous," was her explanation, and they fell silent once again.

* * *

"If you could go anywhere, in the whole world, where would you go?" Lynn asked, sitting cross legged at the top of the slide.

Matty sat across from her with his legs pulled up to his chest. "Um, Australia,"

"Why?"

"B-because I like k-kangar-roos,"

Lynn laughed. "Oh my god, me too," she reached into her purse and pulled out a small booklet. She scooted over to him and flipped the booklet open. "My mummy got me this book. It's got pictures of animals."

"Cool," Matty grinned, staring at the kangaroo.

"And then on the back, there's a fact about the animal." She turned it over and showed it to Matty. "You read it. I can't read very well yet."

Matty felt his cheeks burn a little but nodded, taking the booklet from her. "K-kangar-roos are the only large a-animals that m-move by hop-ping."

"Now read one about parrots." Lynn grinned, bouncing on her knees excitedly.

* * *

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**-Rachel**


	30. Chapter 29

**Hey! **

**So I don't know what the deal is, but on the last chapter, 28 people read it, but I only got 4 reviews. Like what the heck? Is it that hard? Are you that busy? I mean, I would take the time to review one of your stories, so why can't you do that for me? Is this the way my life will always be? Will I always care more than the other person? Damn, I suck.**

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* * *

"Mum, mummy, mum," Jamie called, running into the house and dropping her book bag on the hardwood floor. "Hi, daddy," she greeted, rushing past the living room and skidding into the kitchen. She grabbed onto the edge of the kitchen counter, jumping happily. "I made a friend at school today!"

"That's great, sweetie." Joy smiled, stirring the noodles in the pot.

"Yeah, her name is Aubrey and we both love Doctor Who and she asked me to come over to her house on Friday! She has a Doctor Who game she made and all of the episodes and she has action figures and posters—mum, can I go? Please? She lives down the road—please!"

"Of course—"

"Thank you!" she cheered, hurrying off to tell Fabian about her new friend.

* * *

Josh kept his head down as he walked down the street, heading for his neighborhood, but he was suddenly pulled back when someone gripped his collar. His back connected with the brick wall of the building he was pushed against.

Peter Connery, a kid from several of his classes in school stood before him, holding his shirt. His friends stood behind him, laughing.

"Where are you going, Clarke?" Peter asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Home, if you don't mind. I've got chores to—" he cried out when one of Peter's friends landed a blow directly on his bruise. Josh squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head back to rest against the bricks.

"I don't know if I should let you go or not." Peter replied, pushing his fist harder against the blonde's chest.

"I have a suggestion." Josh wheezed.

Peter ignored him. "Where should we start?"

* * *

Patricia set her purse on the kitchen table and sat down.

Joy looked up from her papers and chuckled. "Hey…"

"Sorry for barging in, but I need advice." she sighed.

"Of course, Trish," Joy nodded seriously, crossing her arms over the edge of the able. "What's up?"

Patricia took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant."

Joy's brown eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Does Eddie know?"

"No, I don't know how to tell him." she moaned, covering her face with her hands. "We have a fifteen year old and a thirteen year old and suddenly I'm pregnant! This kid will be fourteen years younger than Danni."

"That's a lot of years," Joy stated dumbly.

"Joy! What do I do?"

"Tell him." she shrugged. "I know you don't want to, but he might notice it some way or another. As stupid as he is, he's not an idiot."

"What?"

Joy stroked her forehead. "Sorry, I know that didn't make any sense. I'm really tired. Just tell him, Trish. It's not like he's going to stop loving you."

"You're right." Patricia nodded. "But I don't want to."

Joy rested her chin on her fingers and bit her lip. "I'm pregnant too."

"You too?" Patricia gaped and then scoffed. "Great, who's next? Mara?"

Their eyes met and Joy jumped up, rushing for the phone, dialing Mara's phone number.

* * *

"So I thought we could do our tutoring session at the corner coffee shop." Michael explained as he and Emily walked down the street. He ran a hand through his hair, seeing the shop's sign a few blocks ahead.

"Oh my, gosh," Emily exclaimed happily.

Michael practically jumped out of his skin and came to an abrupt halt to avoid running into her as she cut him off. She dashed to the window and kneeled in front of it, her green eyes trained on the bunnies in the pet shop window. He sighed, willing his heart rate to slow.

"Aren't they adorable? I've always wanted a bunny." She sighed, waving at the fat white one with brown spots, as if it would wave back.

"Why don't you get one?" he asked, leaning against the wall beside the window and slipping his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

"My dad won't let me have one. He doesn't like animals." She explained, the excitement in her eyes dimming briefly before she looked up at him and they sparked brightly again. "Have you ever seen a bunny fall over? It's one of the most adorable things ever."

Michael smirked and shook his head. "You're still so weird. Can't you act normal for once?"

Emily smiled awkwardly, standing up and fixing her glasses. "Normal is boring though, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged.

"You can't tell me that you don't have some kind of weird quirk." She said suspiciously.

"They're mostly things I've picked up from my dad. Like, playing with my hair all the time or not being able to eat pork chops unless I have applesauce with it." he said nonchalantly.

"Applesauce?" she asked in amusement. "And I'm the weird one?"

"Don't knock it 'til you've tried it."

* * *

Danni stroked a strand of her brown hair behind her ear. She spooned some ice cream into her mouth and watched Leo as he sat across from her, mixing his ice cream, thinking hard.

"Okay," he began, looking up. "A leather jacket."

She smirked and shook her head silently.

Leo huffed, tapping his chin with the handle of his plastic spoon. "The complete Mortal Instruments series?"

"Nope," she chuckled.

"God, Danni, what else is there?"

She motioned for him to come closer. "I'll give you a hint. It starts with an _L_ and ends with a _Y_."

Leo's eyebrows furrowed and then he snapped his fingers, pulling his spoon out of his mouth. "Life without Eric Stanley."

"Exactly." she winked.

Leo laughed. "That's quite the birthday present. It'll be difficult, but I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks, dude," she smiled.

"You know what I just realized?" Leo mumbled, finishing off his ice cream and tossing it into a trash bin as they stepped off the patio.

Danni slipped her hands into the pockets of her jeans and arched an eyebrow, falling into step with the dark-skinned boy as they walked down the street.

"Eric is your grandfather's name."

Danni scrunched her nose in disgust. "You're right. Great, now I'll never be able to look at Grandpa without seeing Eric. Or I'll never be able to look at Eric without seeing Grandpa."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Leo hissed.

"Not necessarily…" she drifted off with a shrug. She felt her phone buzz in her back pocket and swiped the screen. "Fiona wants to meet up at the coffee shop."

"Can I come? Josh is still grounded so we can't hang out."

"He deserves to be grounded after what he did to Louisa." She grumbled.

"Yeah, well, I may not know what happened between them and it may not be any of my business, but I know that Josh would never do something like that to Louisa, at least without a good reason. He loves her even though they have their issues."

"You and your random moments of wisdom," Danni shook her head, bumping his shoulder playfully. And then she remembered the bruise she'd seen on Josh's side. "But I guess you might be right."

* * *

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**-Rachel**


	31. Chapter 30

**I think this story is going to have like 30 more chapters before I start a sequel to this story. :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Louisa hopped into the kitchen and bit her lip, holding back an excited squeal. She put her hands on Jerome's shoulders. "When are you proposing?"

"Alice," Jerome called boredly.

"Oh, daddy, you know she's not here. But who cares if we know? Mara is so amazing! I'm so excited! When are you going to propose?"

"Soon…" he murmured.

"When? Dad, I need details." She scoffed, planting her hands on her hips as he finished making his snack and sat back at the dining room table.

"Tomorrow,"

Louisa squealed. "Oh my, gosh, I'm so happy! Can I be a bridesmaid?"

"That would be Mara's decision. And she has to say yes first."

"Of course she'll say yes, daddy." She said with a roll of her blue eyes. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. "I won't tell a soul!"

* * *

"Kids," Joy started, clearing her throat loudly.

Fiona, Jamie, Nathan and Lynn looked up from watching TV, their eyes landing on their parents, where they stood in the archway of the living room.

"What's up, mum?" Fiona asked, pausing the movie.

"Are we getting a polar bear?" Lynn asked with a wide smile.

"We're not getting a polar bear, Lynn; that's stupid. We're obviously getting go-carts." Nathan retorted.

"It's not stupid, meanie—"

"Go-carts, Nate?" Jamie laughed loudly, hanging her head over the sofa cushions, her feet propped up on the back. "Isn't that a bit unrealistic?"

"Actually," Joy tried again, but she was cut off by Fiona.

"Jamie, don't be such a downer."

"Oh, so you want go-carts?" Jamie questioned.

"No, but I don't want a polar bear either."

"Why wouldn't you want a pony?" Lynn screamed.

"Hey, guys, why don't we listen to your mother?" Fabian suggested, knocking on the wall to get their attention.

"Dad's right," Nathan nodded.

"I tried to get you guys to listen." Fiona rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Okay," Joy huffed, pulling her brown hair up into a ponytail. "Let's just get this over with: you're all getting another sibling."

"Another one I have to babysit?" Fiona exclaimed.

"Am I getting another sister?" Nathan paled.

"Great, more noise." Jamie huffed.

"Yay!" Lynn cheered, jumping up from the floor and running around the room, rambling about having a baby sister that would be just like her.

Joy leaned toward her husband. "Was this really a good idea?"

Fabian chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. "It'll work out."

* * *

Michael looked up when Emily walked up to the table and put her bag down. He held out his notebook to her that had the answers to questions scribbled on it.

"Sorry I'm late," she said sheepishly and took the notebook from him. She looked over it and nodded slowly. "Good job, here," she pulled her own notebook out of her bag and slid it over to him. "With the test that's coming up, we'll need to make sure you can get at least a B on it. It counts for forty percent of your final grade." She adjusted her glasses and Michael sighed tiredly.

"You know, it took me like, five hours to finish fifteen questions. What am I going to do if I can't answer thirty-seven in an hour?" he asked and he chuckled, holding his pencil out to her as he bounced it. "Look, rubber pencil."

"Maybe that's why," she said, unbuttoning her jacket. She pulled it off, revealing a long-sleeve, faded KISS t-shirt. "You don't pay attention." When he didn't retort, she waved a hand in front of his blue eyes and he jerked back to the present.

"Sorry, it's still weird to know a girl that likes KISS." He mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

* * *

"Hey, mum," Jenna smiled, hopping onto the kitchen counter. "You know what I think?"

Amber took a sip from her coffee mug and shook her head.

"I think Justin has a crush on Alice Clarke."

"Oh my, gosh, are you serious? I thought she has a boyfriend."

"She does, and he totally gets jealous. And then when he sees her in the hallway at school he just stares… And yesterday he let it slip that he thinks she's pretty, and then he completely failed trying to fix it."

"Oh he so likes her…" Amber said with wide eyes.

"He likes who?" Alfie asked, coming into the kitchen through the garage. "Wait, who's 'he'?"

"Justin. We think he likes Alice."

"Oh that reminds me…" he mumbled, kissing his wife's cheek before he left the room.

Amber and Jenna blinked after him before slowly turning their attention back to their conversation.

"Has he done anything else?" Amber asked.

"No, but he seems to hate Nick, Alice's boyfriend. Like, a lot. I don't know. It's weird; usually he tells me about this sort of things."

Amber snapped her fingers. "He's in denial."

"That's got to be it." Jenna realized. "Maybe I can—"

"Mum," Leo called from the living room. "Do you know where my Star Wars sweatshirt is? The one dad had in high school?"

"Yesterday, you said you left it at the Miller's." Jenna answered for her mother.

"Oh right! Now I remember." And the front door clicked shut behind him.

"Anyway," Jenna huffed, hopping off the counter. "As I was saying, Justin's not easy to crack, but I'm his best friend so I should be able to—"

"Mum!" Arthur called from the other side of the glass door that led to the patio. "Can I go to Gracie's?"

"Of course, darling," she called, and he was gone instantly. "Continue, baby," she smiled, wrapping an arm around Jenna's shoulders.

"Justin would give in if he knew that I knew something. So if I drop a hint that I know, of if I just tell him that I know, he might admit it. And that would mean that I'd have to break Nick and Alice up so she and Justin could be together. Though, I don't think they're going to last. Alice will probably break up with him. She can be totally awesome when she wants to be."

"If you need any matchmaking advice, you know I am here for you." Amber winked.

* * *

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**"I was alone. I always am at these big parties. Watching you, watching everybody. Wishing I was more outgoing. Wishing I was dressed up pretty. Wallflower, I'm not here, no one sees me. Wallflower, I'm by myself, please excuse me..." -Wallflower, Priscilla Ahn**

**-Rachel**


	32. Chapter 31

**Yay! New update! :D**

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* * *

Joy laughed lightly, watching Jamie skip down the street ahead of her. She ran a hand through her brown hair and caught up to her daughter, falling into step with her. Jamie reached out and took Joy's hand, grinning wildly. And then her eyes lit up and she let go of Joy's hand, dashing off toward a house at the corner.

"Aubrey!" she called.

The tan-skinned girl jumped off the front porch and hurried down to the end of the driveway to meet Jamie. She placed her hands on the shorter girl's shoulders. "Jamie, you won't believe what I heard!"

"What?" she asked with wide eyes.

"Joy?"

She looked away from the ten year olds when her name was called by a surprised KT Reed. "Oh my, god, KT! What are you doing here?"

"We had to move for Ben's job. How are you?" the dark-skinned woman grinned, pulling her old friend in for a hug.

"Fine, good—Ben," Joy asked slyly.

"Shut up," she laughed, pulling her up to the porch. They sat on the steps and watched Jamie and Aubrey squealed about something related to Doctor Who.

"When did you get here?" Joy asked, brushing her hair away from her face as a cooling breeze brushed past them.

"Like, two days ago. We're still moving in. Ben's at work, TJ's scouting out the school and Jacob's at the baseball court with some kids he met at the park."

"Oh my, gosh, you have to hang out with all of us. Patricia and Eddie are here and so are Alfie and Amber, Jerome and Mara, and Fabian and I—"

"You didn't know that Nina lives across the street?" KT wondered, her head tilting to the side.

"Nina's here, too? Wow, everyone from Anubis is showing up here." Joy mumbled in amazement.

"Yeah, well you know she's married to Mick, right?"

Joy's eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Are you serious? Who would have thought it?"

"That's what I thought when she and I were talking yesterday. I can't believe you didn't know she was here!"

"Well, I didn't know you were here."

"Good point," KT shrugged.

* * *

Michael sat up quickly when he heard something snap. Emily was standing in front of him, holding a broken pencil in front of his face.

"You were asleep again." she stated simply, obviously annoyed.

"Sorry," he mumbled, watching her closely.

She sat back down across from him and sighed, taking off her glasses and setting them down on the table. She rubbed her eyes and then looked at him tiredly. "Look, Michael, I get that you don't want to be here right now, I can second that. But if you don't pay attention, you won't learn anything. If you pass the test next Friday, you'll get a passing grade for the class, and I'll get my extra credit for university. It's a win-win, but only if you cooperate, okay?"

"You have green eyes." he pointed out.

"Did you hear a word I said?" she demanded.

"Wow..."

She rolled her eyes and put her glasses back on. "You're hopeless." She said as she stood up, stuffing her books into her bag.

"Wait, I'm sorry," he stood up and grabbed onto her arm. She jerked back at the contact and kept her eyes directed downward. "I've just never seen your eyes. Why do you hide them behind those glasses? They're beautiful—"

"I have to go." She whispered, rushing away from the table.

* * *

Michael slipped his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and nearly jumped out of his skin when someone slipped their cold hands under that back of his shirt, creeping up his back. "Yvette, what are you doing?" he sighed in annoyance, placing his hands on her shoulders and keeping her a safe distance away.

"You haven't been worshipping me, sexy." She arched a pierced eyebrow, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I've been busy." He said boredly, put his hands back into his pockets.

"No one's too busy for me, baby." She purred, kissing his collarbone.

Taking a deep breath, Michael looked around and furrowed his eyebrows. Emily was making her way into his brain again. It was starting to get a little irritating for him. Her eyes were so green…

"Is your old man home?" he asked suddenly.

Yvette grinned and shook her head, giving his hand a tug and leading him toward her house.

* * *

Gracie giggled around her juice box straw, watching Alfie perform a magic trick for her and Arthur.

Leo watched him from the doorway as he made a piece of paper, shaped to look like a bird, caught on fire and a dove appeared perched on his fingers in place of the origami.

"Why can't I do that?" Leo huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting.

"It takes a lot of practice, son." Alfie chuckled, letting the dove fly toward the door before snapping his fingers and it disappeared, a couple feathers flittering down onto Leo's head.

"_A lot_ of practice," Amber mumbled.

"Arty," Gracie whispered, tugging on his sleeve.

He looked up at her and she leaned forward.

"I know a secret."

"What?" he asked excitedly.

"You can't tell anyone."

"I won't! You have my word." he promised, tracing an _X _on his chest with his finger.

"My daddy is going to ask Mara to marry him." she said with a wide grin.

"Really?" he asked with wide eyes.

"Gracie, is that true?" Amber asked quickly.

Gracie nodded, taking a sliced carrot from the platter in the middle of the table and dipping the end in the salad dressing. "He's taking her on a date tonight and he's going to ask her. I'm going to get a mummy!"

"And we all know that she'll say yes." Alfie grinned.

* * *

Jerome nervously traced the outline of the ring box in his pocket with his finger as he and Mara sat on her outdoor patio swing. He bit his lip and ran the back of his hand down her arm slowly. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Mara smiled, taking his hand in hers.

Before he could speak again, she continued,

"I have a question for you."

Jerome's eyebrows rose, turning toward her. "What's up?"

Mara took a deep breath and looked him in the eye. "Will you marry me?"

Jerome blinked, shocked. "What?"

"Will you marry me?" she repeated.

"B-but," he said in realization, suddenly standing up, "I'm supposed to ask you!"

Mara followed his action and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, you were taking too long!"

"I was gonna do it tonight." He moaned, running his fingers through his hair.

"So you don't want to marry me?" she asked with a small smile.

"What—no! I mean, yes! I mean—"

She giggled and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. "I love you."

Jerome chuckled, hugging her back. "Hell, yes, I'll marry you, baby." He pulled away and took out the ring. "Can you wear this though?"

She nodded, pressing her lips together in anticipation, her eyes suddenly filling with happy tears.

He took her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger before lifting her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. "I love you." He whispered, cupping her face and bringing her to him for a kiss.

* * *

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**"I've lost my goddamn mind! It happens all the time. I can't believe I'm actually meant to be here. Trying to consume, the drug in me is you. And I'm so high on misery, can't you see?" -The Drug In Me Is You, Falling In Reverse**

**-Rachel**


	33. Chapter 32

**Hey! This is the chapter that I was so excited for you guys to read! A lot of people wanted some growing in Josh's character and his relationship with people. So here we are! This whole chapter is mostly based around Josh and his relationship with a couple people. **

**Enjoy! :D**

* * *

When Jerome and Mara walked into the house after their date that night, the Clarke children were standing around the door, waiting excitedly.

"Well good evening to you guys, too." Jerome chuckled. "Where's Michael?"

"He went out." Louisa replied.

"Did you ask her?" Alice asked quickly.

"Ask me what?" Mara looked up at Jerome with furrowed eyebrows.

Alice's eyes widened, "Um, if you wanted to go on vacation with us this year?"

"No, he didn't." she replied with a shake of her head.

"Oh, I just remembered. I was going to tell you guys that we're getting married but I guess that's not very important. Not like vacation or anything." he grumbled teasingly.

"Oh my, gosh, really; you asked her? You said yes?" Louisa demanded, blue eyes flitting to Mara.

"No, she asked me." he shrugged, trying to scoot past them.

"I'm going to have a mummy?" Gracie questioned, grabbing on to Jerome's pant leg.

"Yes, darling, you're going to have a mummy." He winked.

"Congratulations," everyone chorused, all at once moving in to give them a hug.

Jerome suddenly looked up from the kids' happy chatter when Josh shoved past them all, coming from the kitchen, and rushing up the stairs to the bedrooms. "Josh," he called, following him. When he made it up to the door, he found it locked. He rapped his knuckles against the wood. "Josh, open the door."

"I don't want to talk, dad." He snapped back from inside his bedroom.

"Joshua, open the door." Jerome ordered.

The lock clicked and the door opened. Josh glared up at his father. "What?"

"Don't use that tone with me."

"Then don't talk to me—" he tried to shut the door but Jerome stopped it and pushed it open before Josh could react.

"What's so bad about me and Mara getting married, huh?"

Josh ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. "I don't like her. And you never noticed that. You completely ignored how I was feeling."

"Why didn't you say something?" Jerome ground out.

"Because I thought that you'd end up breaking up at some point and then everything would be back to normal."

"Josh, just get to know her. She's amazing—"

"I don't want to know her! I don't want to have anything to do with her! I don't even want to talk about this—I just want to be left alone!"

Jerome chuckled. "You're so much like me."

"I hate it when you say that." Josh growled. "I hate it when people say I look like you. I can't stand that I'm anything like you. I don't want to be anything like you. You're horrible!"

Jerome nearly flinched. "You don't know what I've done for you. Do you know what would've happened if I had my dad around when I was growing up? You wouldn't be here."

"I don't want to be here." Josh cried. "I can't stand being in this family! No one cares about me here. And you! I can't stand you either. I hate you!"

Jerome didn't say anything as Josh brushed past him, storming out of the room and pushing past Mara as he jogged down the stairs. Jerome turned to follow him as the front door slammed shut. Mara placed a hand on his chest to stop him.

"Let me talk to him." she said quietly.

* * *

Michael sighed, running a hand through his hair. Before he could knock on the front door of Emily's house, it opened. He stepped back and she looked up at him. He barely had enough time to take in her appearance—skinny jeans and a black Nirvana jumper with her hair down and glasses gone— before she grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side of the house.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. She looked back to where they came and then behind him.

"I came to apologize for the other day—"

"Great, you're forgiven, thanks, bye." She rushed out, turning to leave.

"Wait a minute. I wanted to talk to you for a second."

"Can't we do that later? If my dad sees you…" she shook her head, pushing him toward the backyard of the house next door. "Go that way."

"Emily, listen to me." he demanded, grabbing her shoulders. "I want to talk to you."

"Then hurry up," she urged.

He stared at her and then shook his head. "Forget it."

"Michael, I'm sorry, I just—"

"Forget it," he interrupted her, his eyes meeting hers once before he turned and walked away, going through the neighbor's backyard as she had instructed.

* * *

Josh looked up when Mara stepped out onto the front porch and let out a humorless, breathy chuckle, "Great, exactly who I want to talk to right now."

"I know you don't like me, Josh, but I'm here to talk if you want to."

"Well, I don't want to." He spat.

"That's fine. I'll just sit here until you're ready." she replied, sitting beside him on the steps.

Josh stared ahead into the night. The only light were the stars overhead, the neighborhood street lamps and the porch light of the Clarke residence. His leg began bouncing nervously and his blue eyes flitted over to Mara. "What do you want?"

Mara jumped and looked over at him. "I'm just waiting for you to be ready to talk to me."

"I want you to leave me alone."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that yet." She shrugged.

After another moment of silence, Josh finally sighed, standing up and walking away from the porch. Mara got up and followed him.

"Is it because you want your dad and Kathrin to get back together?" she asked, hugging herself.

"Kathrin?" he scoffed, turning to look at her incredulously. "No. I hate Kathrin. Our family was fine after she left and it was fine before you pushed your way into it."

Mara's head tilted to the side. "I-I didn't push myself into your family, Josh. Why don't you like me? Is it because you don't want a mum—?"

"I want a mum that's not going to leave." He suddenly snapped.

Mara froze and stared at him in shock as he turned away from her after his outburst, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "Honey, when your father and I decided to get married, I made a commitment. For better or worse, I'll always be here. I love your dad, I love the others, I love you—I'll never leave, Josh."

Josh remained silent, his shoulders suddenly slumping in exhaustion.

"No, you'll leave. No one can put up with us long enough. You'll end up leaving one day. Everyone does." He said.

"Hey, I put up with your father, the worse Clarke of all. If I can handle him for a few weeks, I can handle all of you forever." She laughed lightly.

And that triggered a memory of something his father had said after Kathrin left…

"_Kate just couldn't handle us. I promise you that the people that can put up with me for a couple of weeks can handle all of us forever. And those are the people to trust, believe and love." _

Then he turned to her.

When Mara saw the look in his eyes, she was suddenly reminded of Jerome when they were in high school; the broken, exhausted, unhappy Jerome that had broken her heart when she saw that look in his eyes. Her heart broke once again.

"You'll never leave?" he asked.

Mara shook her head. "I'm here for life, darling."

Before she had a chance to realize it, he was hugging her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist as he laid his forehead on her shoulder, mumbling under his breath, "I'm so sorry, Mara. I'm so sorry."

Mara wound her arms around his shoulders, stroking the back of his head. "You did nothing wrong, honey. You're okay. I'm here."

"No, I'm not okay." he said brokenly, wiping an escaped tear from his cheek. "I'm never okay."

"What do you mean?" she said softly.

He took a deep breath and stood back, hanging his head. "I've been depressed since I was ten years old."

"Does your dad know?"

Josh shook his head. "I…I thought I could handle it myself. And I never gave him the note the school nurse told me to give him back in Mexico."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because Kathrin had just left and dad was working on moving us out of Mexico and back to England and Gracie was still a baby and Matty started developing his stutter and Michael was having trouble in school and Grandma was diagnosed with cancer and Poppy was getting married and Louisa had all these plays and recitals and Alice was being awarded for things—there were too many things happening. I couldn't lay that on him too; it wasn't important."

"Your happiness and health are incredibly important, Josh. He wouldn't have neglected the situation."

"I know, I just didn't want him to worry." He whispered.

"Were you depressed because of Kathrin leaving?" she asked cautiously.

Josh sighed softly and sat down on the porch steps again. "Yes, and...that leads to the big question, why did Louisa and I grow apart?"

Mara was silent for a second as she sat down beside him before speaking up, "Why did you and Louisa grow apart?"

Josh licked his lips and swallowed thickly, resting his elbows on his knees. "Well, it started when…" he sighed in defeat. "After Kathrin left, I started to get really irritable and I started acting up at school and starting fights with everyone and…I needed someone to talk to. So I immediately turned to Lou because she was my best friend and we were there for each other through everything. So a few weeks after Kathrin left, I asked Lou if she and I could talk. I told her to meet me in the garden behind our house because that was one of my hiding places. I waited there for two hours. And she never showed up.

"She forgot about me and went to a friend's house for a sleepover. So…the next morning, I stopped talking to her. I completely shut her out. I shut everyone out. And I know that might not have been the right way to go about it and I made a mistake by not trying to talk it over with her, but it's my natural defense to just shut people out. I had already gotten hurt by Kathrin, and then Lou, I couldn't get hurt again."

"Is that why you didn't want to know me?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, I…I didn't want to get attached and then get hurt again when you leave. But you won't leave, right?"

"Right," she squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. "You're going to be okay, honey. I promise."

"I told him I hate him." he whispered into the silence that had enveloped them. "I didn't mean it."

"I know you didn't, and he knows that, too." She said, brushing his bangs across his forehead. "Just…I think you should apologize to him."

Josh nodded in agreement. "And let me guess, you want me to talk to Louisa as well?"

She hummed in confirmation. "And I'm guessing that you're working on that?"

"Yeah, I…I'm not ready yet. But I promise I will talk to her." he murmured.

"Are we okay now?" she asked.

A smile pulled at Josh's lips and he nodded instantly. "Yeah, I'm sorry that I was such a brat."

"That's all behind us now. Come on, let's go inside; I'm being eaten alive by mosquitoes."

Josh laughed, taking her hand and pulling her off the step. "Weird, I never get bitten."

"Well aren't you lucky…" She grumbled teasingly.

* * *

**Review?**

**"Scream for me now (shout it out), as loud as you can and call my name proud. I'm folding truth, I'm blue for you. Will you ever...scream for me now. Shout it out!" -Scream For Me, Automatic Loveletter**

**-Rachel**


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